THE 


ION. 


Key.   FREDERIC    DENISON,   A.M., 


AUTHOR     OF     "THE    SABBATH    INSTITUTION,"     "HISTORICAL     NOTES, 
"A  SHINING  LIGHT,"   ETC. 


■* 


THIS     DO     IN     REMEMBRANCE     OF     ME." 


... 


#  jnlatolpjjia : 

AMERICAN    BAPTIST   PUBLICATION    SOCIETY 
530    ARC  II    STBEET. 


L 


SC& 


This  interesting  book  is  affectionately  dedicated, 
by  the  Publication  Society,  to  J.  Warren  Merrill, 
Boston,  Mass.,  by  whose  liberality  it  has  been  stereo- 
typed, and  thus  perpetuated. 


MY   PARTICULAR  FRIEND, 


REV.  S.  MYDEN  PHELPS,  D.D., 


is    ^olum* 


FRATERNALLY     INSCRIBED, 


(3) 


PREFACE 


The  present  treatise  surveys  the  Lord's 
Supper  as  a  very  plain,  yet  most  significant, 
sublime  and  spiritual  Institution,  given  by 
our  Lord  to  every  church,  as  a  church, 
gathered  in  his  name,  and  ordered  according 
to  his  word. 

The  work  claims  the  merit  of  surveying 
the  Supper  in  a  new  order,  and  of  presenting 
some  new  views  in  regard  to  it.  Special 
consideration  is  given  to  the  question  of 
church  independency  as  involved  in  certain 
views  of  the  Supper;  and  attention  is  also 
given  to  the  various  modern  claims  of  what 
may  be  termed  Communionism. 

1*  (5) 


6  PREFACE. 

Such  as  the  work  is,  not  deprecating  the 
candid  criticisms  it  may  elicit,  for  Christian 
and  scholarly  investigation  is  to  be  com- 
mended, I  prayerfully  submit  it  to  the 
public,  in  hope  that  it  may  promote  vital 
piety,  and  the  unity  and  fellowship  of  the 
saints,  by  bringing  us  all  into  a  closer  union 
with  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  gave  the 
explicit  commandment,  in  reference  to  the 
Supper,  "  This  do  in  remembrance  of  me." 

February,  1860. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ORIGIN   OF   THE   INSTITUTION. 

1.  Importance  of  correct  Views  of  the  Institution.  2.  Pnrei 
Views  are  gradually  prevailing.  3.  Aim  of  the  present  Trea- 
tise. 4.  The  Supper  is  purely  a  Christian  Institution.  5.  The 
New  Testament  our  only  authority  in  regard  to  it.  6.  The 
Hebrew  type  of  the  Supper.  7.  Different  terms  applied  to  the 
Supper — Sacrament,  Eucharist,  Communion,  Mass  —  Lord's 
Supper,  the  best  term.  8.  Accounts  of  the  Origin  of  the  In- 
stitution given  by  the  Evangelists — Matthew,  Mark,  Luke. 
9.  The  Institution  given  to  the  first  Church.  10.  Order  in  which 
the  Institution  was  observed.     11.  May  be  called  the  Christian 

"  Passover.  12.  The  Lord's  Supper  and  not  man's  supper. 
13.  The  Saviour  gave  it  to  the  Twelve  only,  and  did  not  invite 
others  to  participate — Why  ?  14.  It  is  given  to  churches,  as 
churches 11 


CHAPTER  II. 

STRUCTURE   OF  THE   INSTITUTION. 

1.  Its  structure  better  understood  by  studying  the  Jewish  Pass- 
over. 2.  Account  of  the  Passover.  3.  Christ  the  archetype 
of  the  old  Sacrifices  and  of  the  Paschal  Lamb.  4.  When  the 
obligation  to  observe  the  Passover  ceased.  5.  The  great  sim- 
plicity of  the  Supper  Institution.    6.  Is  it  necessary  to  use 

(7) 


I  CONTENTS. 

unleavened  bread?  7.  What  shall  be  the  quality  of  tbe  cup? 
8.  The  frequency  of  its  observance.  9.  The  supposed  obliga- 
tion of  the  ceremony  of  the  washing  of  feet.  10.  The  time  of 
observing  the  Institution.  11.  The  posture  and  manner  of  ob- 
serving it — the  unphilosophical  remarks  of  Dr.  Dwight — The 
essential  things  in  the  Institution — Historical  position  of  the 
Baptists.     12.  The  Institution  changed  by  the  Church  of  Rome. 

13.  By  whom  in  particular  the  Supper  should  be  administered. 

14.  Why  we  need  this  Institution,  and  how  it  is  adapted  to 
our  natures 25 


CHAPTER  III 

DESIGN   OF   THE   INSTITUTION. 

1.  Importance  of  apprehending  its  design.  2.  Our  views  as- 
sisted by  a  glance  at  the  purposes  of  the  Passover.  3.  The 
Supper  has  a  far  higher  design  than  had  the  Passover.  4.  The 
leading  design  is,  to  hold  before  our  eyes  the  Lamb  of  God 
who  taketh  away  our  sins.  5.  It  presents  the  doctrines  of  the 
Christian  system — Our  lost  condition — The  fact  of  an  atone- 
ment— The  revelation  of  God's  grace — The  greatness  of  our 
sins,  and  the  deep  dye  of  our  guilt — The  completeness  of  the 
redemption  proffered.  6.  It  is  a  monumental  Institution,  a 
proof  of  the  life  and  mission  of  Christ — One  other  monument. 
7.  The  custom  of  perpetuating  events  by  monuments — Wisdom 
of  this  custom.  8.  The  mercy  of  Christ  in  giving  to  us  certain 
monuments.  9.  Difficulty  of  forging  monumental  institutions. 
10.  Some  of  the  evidences  of  Christianity.  11.  It  is  a  prophecy 
or  promise  and  pledge.  12.  It  is  an  effective  means  of  grace. 
13.  The  law  by  which  it  acts  upon  us.  14.  The  great  fact  to 
be  remembered.  15.  It  was  not  designed  to  express  our  fel- 
lowship for  one  another.  16.  It  is  a  conservator  of  gospel 
truth.     17.  A  conservator  of  life  in  the  churches 44 

CHAPTER  IV. 

LIMITS  OF  THE   INSTITUTION. 

1.  Importance  of  this  division  of  the  subject.  2.  Tbe  Passover 
furnishes  an  analogy.    3.  The  Supper  committed  to  churches, 


CONTENTS.  9 

as  churches — Testimony  of  the  New  Testament — The  Twelve 
the   first  corporate  body  or  church — The  Gentile  churches. 

4.  Remarks  of  Neander — The  organic  character  of  the  first 
churches  —  General  principles  of  church  organization  and 
church  independency — Happy  tendency  of  their   principles. 

5.  Ought  the  Supper  to  be  carried  out  of  the  church  assembly 
to  private  individuals?  6.  Duty  of  all  the  members  of  a 
church  to  observe  the  Institution.  7.  Certain  conclusions. 
8.  The  Supper  not  to  be  appropriated  to  purposes  of  Christian 
fellowship.  9.  Neander's  exposition  of  the  Supper.  10.  The 
sense  of  1  Cor.  x.  16,  17 — Comments  of  Olshausen.  11.  Our 
reply  to  such  as  charge  us  with  "  close  communion."  12.  Re- 
futation of  the  plea  for  giving  the  Supper  to  the  unbaptized. 
13.  God  has  set  mankind  in  families.  14.  In  a  similar  manner 
he  hath  set  his  children  in  churches.  15.  Importance  of  cor- 
rect views  of  churches 65 

CHAPTER  V. 

ABUSES  OP   THE   INSTITUTION. 

.  Abuses  of  the  Christian  scheme  anticipated  —  On  what 
grounds.  2.  The  first  gross  abuse  of  the  Supper  at  Corinth — 
The  Agapje.  3.  The  second  great  abuse  of  the  Institution — 
Words  of  Irenreus — Words  of  Neander.  4.  Further  abuses 
arising  with  the  coi-ruptions  of  the  Papal  power.  5.  Final 
assumptions  of  the  Romish  Church — A  few  churches  remained 
comparatively  pure.  6.  Ecclesiastical  Establishments  after 
the  Reformation — Abuses  of  the  Supper  in  these.  7.  Abuses 
incident  to  the  union  of  Church  and  State — Abuses  still  exist- 
ing in  Europe — Abuses  in  England.  8.  Abuses  that  existed 
in  our  own  country  in  its  earlier  history.  9.  The  Supper  as  a 
means  of  converting  grace — Opinions  of  Stoddard  and  Wil- 
liams. 10.  Position  of  modern  Pedobaptist  churches.  11.  The 
doctrine  of  communionism  among  the  Pedobaptists.  12.  The 
Baptists  censured  by  the  communionists.  13.  Position  of  the 
Baptists.  14.  An  accusation  answered.  15.  Our  appeal  to 
law.  16.  The  high  aim  that  must  be  conceded  to  the  Baptists. 
17.  Plea  in  regard  to  unbaptized  persons.  18.  How  far  a  con- 
scientious belief  entitles  to  church  privileges.  19.  Liberty 
of  conscience.    20.  Apologetic  Remark 87 


10  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

BEXEFIT3   OF   THE   INSTITUTION. 

I.  Profit  anticipated  in  this  division  of  our  subject.  2.  Ends 
answered  by  the  various  appointments  of  Christ.  3.  The  Sup- 
per Institution  a  store-house  of  spiritual  blessings.  4.  A 
means  of  grace  peculiarly  adapted  to  our  natures — The  great 
educational  law  recalled.  5.  Connection  of  the  Supper  with 
pure  Christian  truth,  and  the  development  of  the  Christian 
life.  6.  The  great  benefit  derived  from  the  Institution.  7.  The 
presence  of  Christ  the  greatest  blessing.  S.  How,  specifically, 
the  Supper  tends  to  secure  the  presence  of  Christ.  9.  The 
happy  period  when  Calvary  and  the  Cross  shall  be  set  in  each 
church.  10.  The  testimony  of  experience.  11.  We  cannot 
afford  to  neglect  the  Supper.  12.  Reluctance  in  leaving  our 
theme.  13.  Practical  Reflections:  Let  the  New  Testament  be 
our  statute  book — Let  us  be  governed  by  the  law  of  Christ  and 
not  by  numbers — Let  us  not  be  afraid  to  publish  our  princi- 
ples and  defend  our  positions — Let  us  hold  the  Supper  in  its 
original  rank  and  place — A  suitable  form  of  invitation  to  be 
read  by  a  church — Concluding  thoughts Ill 


THE   SUPPER  INSTITUTION. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ORIGIN    OF    THE   INSTITUTION. 

1.  The  variety  of  views  that  have  been  held 
in  reference  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  both  among 
Catholics  and  Protestants,  have  necessarily  led  to 
practices  equally  differing,  and  often  deeply  in- 
jurious to  the  Christian  life.  Purity  of  faith  is 
indispensable  to  purity  of  life  in  individuals  and  in 
churches.  It  is  of  great  consequence,  therefore, 
that  we  entertain  correct  views  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  since  the  Institution  has  always  had  a 
conspicuous  place  and  a  commanding  influence 
in  the  progress  of  Christianity.  We  hesitate 
not  to  say,  in  short,  that  a  proper  understanding 
and  observance  of  this  Institution  is  essential  to 
the  health,  progress,  and  power  of  the  churches 
of  Jesus  Christ. 

(ii) 


12  THE    ST7PPER   INSTITUTION. 


2.  Formerly,  for  a  long  period  preceding  the 
Great  Reformation,  the  Supper  was  greatly  mis- 
conceived both  in  its  parts  and  relations.  Since 
the  Reformation,  these  misconceptions  have  been 
greatly  diminished,  and,  we  trust,  they  are  con- 
tinually growing  less.  Among  Protestants  this 
is  evidently  the  case.  But  even  among  the  latter, 
in  some  respects,  we  think,  it  is  still  miscon- 
ceived, and  therefore  abused. 

3.  Every  effort  possible  should  be  made  to 
correct  the  false  views  of  this  Institution  that 
have  been  disseminated.  In  hope  of  gaining  a 
clear  view  of  the  Institution,  we  shall  endeavor 
to  look  at  it  on  all  its  sides  and  in  all  its 
parts. 

4.  The  Supper  is  a  purely  Christian  Institu- 
tion. There  is  nothing  about  it  derived  from 
natural  religion.  Every  thing  about  it  relates  to 
the  Christian  scheme.  It  can  have  no  signifi- 
cancy  apart  from  the  gospel.  It  can  be  under- 
stood, therefore,  only  by  those  who  know  the 
Christian  faith,  and  have  experienced  its  inward 
workings.  The  Supper,  in  part,  epitomizes  to 
the  senses  the  Christian  scheme,  and  affects 
the  heart  through  the  senses.  It  can  be  rightly 
observed  and  enjoyed  only  by  those  who  have 
felt  the  Christian  faith  as  a  divine  life  in  the 
heart ;  for  the  culture  of  the  inner  life  through 


ITS    ORIGIN.  13 


the  medium  of  the  physical  senses,  the  Institu- 
tion was  given.  And,  as  we  shall  have  occasion 
to  show,  this  Institution  can  be  lawfully  ob- 
served only  by  Christian  churches,  as  such,  since 
they  are  ordained  as  the  depositories  of  the  faith 
and  order  of  the  Christian  scheme.  And  we  hold 
that  each  church  is  a  complete  and  independent 
society  of  Jesus,  or  corporation ;  to  be  an  em- 
bodiment and  illustration,  a  living  type  and  re- 
presentative of  the  Gospel  and  of  all  the  New 
Testament  laws. 

5.  We  learn  of  this  Institution  only,  in  the 
New  Testament.  Here  we  learn  its  origin,  ex- 
cept in  so  far  as  it  is  an  outgrowth  of  the  Pass- 
over ;  the  manner  of  its  observance ;  and  the 
purposes  for  which  it  was  instituted.  It  matters 
not  to  us  what  others  may  think  of  this  Institu- 
tion, what  ideas  and  associations  others  may 
have  thrown  around  it ;  for  all  our  views  we 
shall  go  to  the  original  source,  the  Inspired  Re- 
cord. It  is  easy,  natural,  and  almost  unavoid- 
able, to  accept  the  views  prevailing  around  us 
— the  views  of  our  fathers  and  teachers,  espe- 
cially if  these  have  run  through  many  genera- 
tions, and  have  become  part  of  the  religious 
literature  of  our  times.  But  it  is  safer  to  drink 
from  the  fountain-head  than  from  the  streams 
2 


14  THE    SUPPER    INSTITUTION. 


below ;  the  waters  always  partake  of  the  quali- 
ties of  the  channels  through  which  they  run. 

In  all  religious  things  the  Bible  is  our  perfect 
and  only  standard.  Here  we  have  a  perfect 
word  by  which  we  must  stand  or  fall.  In  regard 
to  the  Christian  Dispensation,  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  our  only  authority.  For  all  Christian 
duties  the  New  Testament  is  complete  and  final, 
however  some  theologians,  commentators,  and 
church  authorities  may  venture  to  add  or  take 
away  from  it.  This,  to  us,  is  the  Law  and  the 
Testimony  to  which  we  appeal  confidently,  con- 
stantly and  prayerfully.  There  exists  too  great 
a  tendency,  or  disposition  to  adopt  the  current 
opinions  about  us,  without  first  examining  them 
ourselves  in  the  light  of  the  Scriptures.  This 
tendency  may  be  comparatively  harmless  in  many 
things,  but  in  religious  matters  it  may  often  lead 
to  the  most  ruinous  results.  We  must  give 
account  unto  God ;  hence  the  word  of  God 
should  be  the  only  rule  of  our  judgments  and 
actions. 

6.  The  Lord's  Supper  had  a  type  in  the  old 
Hebrew  economy  or  Theocracy.  We  allude  to 
the  Passover,  of  which  we  shall  have  occasion  to 
speak  hereafter.  In  a  limited  sense,  the  Pass- 
over prepared  the  way  for  the  Supper ;  for 
while  it  spoke  of  a  particular  past  redemption 


ITS   ORIGIN.  15 


by  the  hand  of  God  and  was  sanctified  by  blood  ; 
it,  at  the  same  time,  like  all  the  Jewish  ceremo- 
nies, had  something  in  it  pointing  forward  to 
Him  of  whom  Moses  and  the  prophets  did 
write. 

7.  Before  proceeding  to  give  in  order  the  ac- 
counts of  the  origin  of  the  Institution,  it  may  be 
suitable  to  speak  of  the  terms  or  names  by  which 
the  Institution*  has  been,  at  different  times  and 
by  different  authorities,  designated  and  known. 

On  account  of  its  solemn  and  public  character 
it  has  often  been  styled  "  A  Sacrament,"  or 
"The  Sacrament."  Sacrament  is  a  word  bor- 
rowed from  the  Latin  Sacramentum,  denoting 
the  oath, taken  by  Roman  soldiers,  of  fidelity  to 
a  military  commander  and  to  the  laws  of  the 
country.  Manifestly  this  word  is  not  the  hap- 
piest one  possible  to  denote  an  Institution  which, 
alike  in  its  form  and  spirit,  widely  differs  from  the 
taking  of  a  military  vow.  Besides,  the  word  is 
expressive  of  an  ordinance  simply.  Hence  it  is 
much  more  applicable  to  baptism  than  to  the 
Supper.  Many  have  applied  it  to  the  ordinance 
of  baptism.  To  this  application  there  is  but 
little  to  object,  except  the  military  sense  of  the 
term.  But  it  is  not  a  suitable  term  by  which  to 
indicate  the  Supper,  which  is  a  most  tender 
Christian  Institution. 


16  THE    a  UPPER    INSTITUTION. 


The  Supper  is  sometimes  called  "  the  Euchar- 
ist." Eucharist  signifies,  properly,  giving  of 
thanks.  The  Supper  is  so  called  from  the  thanks- 
givings and  sacred  hymns  which  accompany  the 
service,  and  make  a  part  of  the  celebration.  In 
instituting  it,  we  read  that  the  Saviour  gave 
thanks  before  breaking  the  bread  and  before  dis- 
tributing the  wine ;  and  the  service  closed  by  the 
singing  of  a  hymn.  The  word  ducharist,  then, 
is  more  appropriate  than  the  word  Sacrament  to 
describe  the  service  ;  but  still  it  is  not  sufficiently 
comprehensive. 

The  Institution  is  not  unfrequently  called 
"the  Communion."  This  expression  has  its  ap- 
propriateness from  the  fact,  that,  in  the  service, 
or  by  means  of  the  Institution,  that  is,  through 
faith  in  the  use  of  the  symbols,  the  disciples  are 
expected  to  commune  with  Christ,  of  whom  the 
symbols  speak.  The  object  of  the  Institution  is 
to  appeal  to  the  mind  and  heart  through  the 
senses,  presenting  Christ  crucified  before  our 
eyes,  and  aiding  us  in  communing  with  liim. 
But  some  have  also  attached  to  the  Supper  the 
idea  of  a  communion  with  our  fellow-Christians. 
This  idea,  as  we  shall  hereafter  show,  does  not 
belong  to  the  Institution,  and  ought  always  to 
be  thoroughly  excluded  from  it.  Hence,  it  is 
very   improper    to   speak,    as   many   do,    about 


ITS    ORIGIN.  17 


"communing  with  the  church,"  and  "communing 
with  the  denomination,"  and  "  communing  with 
one  another."  Now  none  of  these  kinds  of  com- 
munion can  properly  be  attached  to  the  Lord's 
Supper :  they  have  other  and  more  appropriate 
modes  of  expression ;  they  necessarily  pervert 
and  corrupt  the  Supper.  In  a  certain  so-called 
evangelical  periodical,  the  following  language 
was  recently  found  :  "  The  Catholic  Communion 
of  the  Protestant  world  at  the  Lord's  Supper." 
So,  the  word  Communion  is  liable  to  abuse  and 
misapprehension  when  used  to  denote  the  Lord's 
Supper. 

In  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  the  observ- 
ance of  the  Supper  is  styled  the  Celebration  of 
Mass.  It  is  believed  that  the  bread  and  wine, 
after  various  prayers  and  ceremonies,  are  tran- 
substantiated or  changed  into  the  very  body  and 
blood  of  Christ.  Mass  is  offered  as  an  expiatory 
sacrifice  for  the  living  and  the  dead.  In  most 
Romish  churches,  the  celebration  of  mass  consti- 
tutes the  principal  part  of  the  worship.  That 
this  service  is  a  sad  compound  of  error,  credulity, 
superstition,  and  ruinous  delusion,  need  not  here 
be  shown. 

Among  enlightened  Protestants  the  Institu- 
tion is  commonly  designated  as  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per. It  is  so  called  because  it  was  instituted  by 
2* 


18  THE   SUPPER    INSTITUTION. 


our  Lord,  and  instituted  for  the  single  purpose 
of  commemorating  his  sufferings  and  death  for 
his  people.  This,  evidently,  is  the  most  suitable 
and  truthful  name  for  the  Institution.  The 
Supper  speaks  simply  of  Him  who  is  our  Pass- 
over, the  Lamb  of  God  for  sinners  slain.  And 
the  name,  Lord's  Supper,  ought  to  prevent  us 
from  taking  liberties  with  the  Institution,  and 
corrupting  it  by  carnal  and  convivial  elements 
as  did  the  Corinthian  Church,  and  from  miscon- 
ceiving and  misapplying  it  to  superstitious  and 
miraculous  ends,  as  among  Papists,  and  also 
from  perverting  it  to  the  expression  of  Christian 
esteem  and  fellowship  among  ourselves,  as  is  the 
case  with  not  a  few  Protestants.  It  is  the  Lord's 
Supper,  and  not  our  feast.  In  observing  it,  we 
are  to  commune  only  with  Christ. 

Of  the  various  terms  employed,  then,  the  one 
that  is  most  expressive  and  least  liable  to  misap- 
prehension and  perversion,  is  the  Lord's  Supper. 
With  not  a  little  propriety  it  might  be  called  the 
Christian  Passover. 

8.  Accounts  of  the  origin  or  founding  of  the 
Institution,  are  already  given  by  the  Evangelists, 
Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke. 

"  And  the  disciples  did  as  Jesus  had  ap- 
pointed them  ;  and  they  made  ready  the  Pass- 
over.    Now,  when  the  even  was  come,  he  sat 


ITS    ORTCITN.  19 


down  with  the  twelve."  "  And  as  they  were 
eating,  Jesus  took  bread,  and  blessed,  and  brake, 
and  gave  to  the  disciples,  and  said  :  Take,  eat ; 
this  is  my  body.  And  he  took  the  cup,  and  gave 
thanks,  and  gave  to  them,  saying :  Drink  ye  all 
of  it ;  for  this  is  my  blood  of  the  new  testa- 
ment, which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remission 
of  sins.  But  I  say  unto  you,  I  will  not  drink 
henceforth  of  this  fruit  of  the  vine,  until  that 
day  when  I  drink  it  new  with  you  in  my  Father's 
kingdom.  And  when  they  had  sung  an  hymn, 
they  went  out  into  the  Mount  of  Olives."  Matt. 
xxvi.  19,  20  ;  26-30. 

"And  they  made  ready  the  passover.  And  in 
the  evening  he  cometh  with  the  twelve."  "And 
as  they  did  eat,  Jesus  took  bread,  and  blessed, 
and  brake,  and  gave  to  them,  and  said :  Take, 
eat ;  this  is  my  body.  And  he  took  the  cup,  and 
when  he  had  given  thanks,  he  gave  to  them  ;  and 
they  all  drank  of  it.  And  he  said  unto  them, 
This  is  my  blood  of  the  new  testament,  which  is 
shed  for  many.  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  I  will 
drink  no  more  of  the  fruit  of  the  vine,  until  that 
day  that  I  drink  it  new  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 
And  when  they  had  sung  an  hymn  they  went  out 
into  the  mount  of  Olives."  Mark  xiv.  16,  IT, 
22-26. 

"And  they  made  ready  the  passover.     And 


20  THE    SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


when  the  hour  was  come,  he  sat  down,  and  the 
twelve  apostles  with  him.  And  he  said  unto  them  : 
With  desire  I  have  desired  to  eat  this  passover 
with  you  before  I  suffer ;  for  I  say  unto  you  I 
will  not  any  more  eat  thereof  until  it  be  fulfilled 
in  the  kingdom  of  God.  And  he  took  the  cup, 
and  gave  thanks,  and  said  :  Take  this,  and  divide 
it  among  yourselves ;  for  I  say  unto  you  I  will 
not  drink  of  the  fruit  of  the  vine,  until  the  king- 
dom of  God  shall  come. 

"And  he  took  bread,  and  gave  thanks,  and 
brake,  and  gave  unto  them,  saying:  This  is  my 
body  which  is  given  for  you :  this  do  in  remem- 
brance of  me.  Likewise  also  the  cup  after  sup- 
per, saying  :  This  cup  is  the  new  testament  in  my 
blood,  which  is  shed  for  you."  Luke  xxii.  13-20. 

In  the  mouth  of  two  or  three  witnesses  all 
things  are  established.  How  clear  and  explicit 
the  testimony.  How  exactly  the  witnesses  agree. 
The  whole  scene  is  perfectly  delineated. 

9.  The  Saviour  and  the  twelve,  who  had  left  all 
and  followed  him,  living  together  and  meeting 
their  common  expenses  out  of  a  common  purse, 
were,  in  the  Jewish  sense  of  the  term,  a  family, 
and  hence  were  authorized  and  required,  as  Jews, 
to  observe  the  Passover.  They  were  also  a 
church  or  ecclesia,  "  a  company  called  out  by  au- 
thority."    They  were  the  first  Church  of  Christ, 


ITS    ORIGIN.  21 


the  germ  of  the  larger  body  soon  to  be  called  and 
fully  organized.  As  a  Jewish  family  they  ob- 
served the  Passover.  But  as  they  were  now  about 
to  take  their  stand  and  rank  as  a  Christian  Church 
before  the  world,  the  Saviour  gives  to  them  as 
the  first  Christian  corporation,  or  church,  the 
Supper  Institution,  as  a  memorial  of  himself,  their 
Founder,  Head  and  Life,  and  a  pledge  of  his 
final  coming  to  take  his  people  to  his  heavenly 
home. 

10.  Having  finished  the  Paschal  Supper,  he 
took  of  the  elements  that  remained  and  instituted 
the  new  Christian  Passover.  He  selects  only 
bread  and  wine.  He  first  gives  thanks.  He 
then  breaks  the  bread,  and  explaining  its  symbolic 
appropriation,  distributes  it  among  them,  saying  : 
Take,  eat ;  this  is  my  body  which  is  given  for 
you.  After  the  same  manner  he  takes  the  cup, 
saying:  This  cup  is  the  new  testament  in  my 
blood  which  is  shed  for  you.  At  each  step  the 
Saviour  is  careful  to  explain  the  object  of  the  In- 
stitution ;  as  if  he  foresaw  that  it  would  be  mis- 
understood and  perverted.  He  charged  the 
Apostles  in  most  explicit  terms  to  keep  the  Insti- 
tution in  its  purity,  saying  :  "  This  do  in  remem- 
brance of  me." 

11.  As  the  Passover  was  God's  special  institu- 
tion, given  to  every  family  of  the  Jewish  nation  to 


22  THE    SUPPER    INSTITUTION. 


remind  them  of  the  divine  interposition  by  which 
they  were  rescued  from  the  bondage  of  Egypt, 
so  the  Christian  Passover,  or  Lord's  Supper,  is 
Christ's  special  Institution  given  to  every  one  of 
his  churches,  to  remind  all  the  members  of  their 
great  deliverance  from  the  bondage  of  Satan,  and 
to  keep  before  their  eyes  the  person,  and  especially 
the  sufferings,  of  their  Deliverer. 

12.  This  is  indeed  the  Lord's  Supper  and  not 
man's  supper.  It  is  not  a  mere  feast  to  be  used 
for  any  human  gratifications.  It  should  always 
be  held  as  Christ  instituted  it,  and  for  the  pur- 
poses expressly  named  by  him.  And  it  will  be 
noticed  that  Jesus  says  not  one  word  about  our 
communing  with  one  another,  or  one  word  about 
making  the  Institution  a  test  of  our  fellowship 
with  other  disciples.  No ;  Jesus  gave  to  the  In- 
stitution a  higher,  nobler,  more  sacred,  definite, 
and  glorious  purpose. 

13.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  Saviour  gave 
the  Institution  into  the  hands  of  the  Apostles, 
his  first  church,  or  ecclesia,  a  company  called 
out  by  his  authority.  He  did  not  give  it  into  the 
hands  of  the  promiscuous  multitude  of  believers ; 
nor  into  the  hands  of  the  one  hundred  and  twen- 
ty; nor  into  the  hands  of  the  seventy;  for  these 
were  not  as  yet  organized  as  a  church ;  they  stood 
not  forth  publicly  as  a  Christian  organization, 


ITS    ORIGIN.  23 


though  they  had  been  baptized.  All  except  the 
twelve  were  simply  as  the  materials  out  of  which 
the  first  church  was  yet  to  be  fully  constructed. 
The  apostles  were  the  germ,  the  nucleus,  the  first 
incipient  church  ;  hence  to  them  alone  the  Sup- 
per Institution  was  committed.  The  others  were 
soon  connected  with  them. 

Nor  did  the  Saviour  invite  even  his  own  moth- 
er, or  his  own  kinsmen,  to  sit  with  the  Apostles 
when  he  instituted  the  Supper.  He  gave,  we  re- 
peat, the  Institution  to  the  church  that  then  was. 
So  the  Institution  belongs,  we  think,  exclusively 
to  churches,  as  the  Passover  belonged  exclusively 
to  Jewish  families. 

14.  It  was  given  not  alone  to  the  first  church 
that  was  formed,  but  to  every  church  that  was 
afterwards  organized.  Paul  says  to  the  Corin- 
thian Church,  "  For  I  have  received  of  the  Lord 
that  which  I  also  delivered  unto  you,  That  the 
Lord  Jesus,  the  night  in  which  he  was  betrayed, 
took  bread,  and  when  he  had  given  thanks,  he 
brake,  and  said :  Take,  eat ;  this  is  my  body 
which  is  broken  for  you  ;  this  do  in  remembrance 
of  me.  After  the  same  manner  also  he  took  the 
cup,  when  he  had  supped,  saying ;  this  cup  is 
the  new  testament  in  my  blood  :  this  do  ye,  as  oft 
as  ye  drink,  in  remembrance  of  me.  For  as  oft 
as  ye  eat  this  bread  and  drink  this  cup,  ye  do 


24  THE    SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


show  forth  the  Lord's  death  till  he  come."  1  Cor. 
xi.  23-26. 

So  the  Apostles,  according  to  the  command  of 
Christ,  delivered  this  Institution,  as  well  as  the 
ordinance  of  baptism  and  all  the  doctrines  of  the 
new  kingdom,  to  the  churches  that  were  formed 
in  different  places  through  their  instrumentality. 
The  Supper  was  given  to  each  church  for  the  ben- 
efit of  all  the  members,  as  a  means  of  keeping  the 
truth  in  their  minds  ;  as  a  sensible  representation 
of  the  cardinal  truths  of  the  Christian  system ;  as 
an  appeal  to  their  faith,  through  the  medium  of 
the  senses,  that  their  faith  might  often  be  stirred 
up,  and  so  their  hearts  be  refreshed  and  invigor- 
ated. Meanwhile  it  animated  them  with  the  assur- 
ance that  the  Lord  would  come  to  take  his  peo- 
ple to  his  heavenly  kingdom. 

Thus  the  Institution  originated.  Thus  it  has 
been  delivered  to  us.  It  is  a  priceless  Institution. 
In  it  we  seem  to  see  our  Lord ;  to  discover  his 
love  for  us,  and  his  sufferings  in  our  behalf.  By 
it  we  are  animated  to  endure  trials  as  seeing  him 
who  will  speedily  come  to  take  us  to  himself.  And 
by  it  we  hold  up  the  Lamb  of  God  before  the 
eyes  of  a  perishing  world.  So  in  honor  of 
Christ  let  it  always  be  observed. 


CHAPTER  II. 

STRUCTURE   OF    THE   INSTITUTION. 

1.  The  better  to  appreciate  the  structure  of 
the  Supper  Institution  we  may  look  back  for  a 
moment  upon  the  Hebrew  Institution — the  Pass- 
over— out  of  which  it  may  be  said  the  Christian 
Passover  sprang  ;  though  in  excellency  the  out- 
growth far  surpasses  the  root.  The  Jewish 
Passover  was  sublime  in  meaning  ;  but  the  Chris- 
tian Passover  has  a  meaning  immeasurably  higher. 
Still,  the  Old  Institution  was  in  a  measure  the 
type  of  the  New.  Both  speak  of  a  deliverance 
by  the  election,  power  and  grace  of  God. 

Jesus  was  not  only  the  archetype  of  all  the 
old  sacrificial  offerings,  dating  back  to  the  days 
of  Abel ;  but  especially  of  the  Hebrew  symbols, 
sacrifices,  patterns  and  institutions.  Every  thing 
bore  a  part  in  mirroring  forth  Jesus  in  his  per- 
son, in  his  offices,  in  his  work,  and  in  his  admin- 
istration. The  Passover,  so  peculiar  in  its  origin 
and  structure,  was  wonderfully  calculated  to 
3  (25) 


26  THE    SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


speak  of  redemption  by  the  interposition  of  God. 
And  while  it  was  a  memorial  of  a  past  glorious 
interposition,  it  was,  as  well,  a  type  of  a  forth- 
coming and  yet  more  glorious  intervention. 

2.  Let  us  glance  at  the  structure  of  the  Pass- 
over. We  find  the  record  in  Ex.  xii.  "  Speak 
ye  unto  the  congregation  of  Israel,  saying,  In 
the  tenth  of  this  month  (Abib — the  first  month) 
they  shall  take  to  them  every  man  a  lamb,  ac- 
cording to  the  house  of  their  fathers,  a  lamb  for 
a  house  :  and  if  the  household  be  too  little  for 
the  lamb,  let  him  and  his  neighbor  next  unto  his 
house  take  it,  according  to  the  number  of  souls ; 
every  man  according  to  his  eating  shall  make 
you  count  for  the  lamb.  Your  lamb  shall  be 
without  blemish,  a  male  of  the  first  year ;  ye 
shall  take  it  out  from  the  sheep,  or  from  the 
goats  :  and  ye  shall  keep  it  up  until  the  four- 
teenth day  of  the  same  month ;  and  the  whole 
assembly  of  the  congregation  of  Israel  shall  kill 
it  in  the  evening.  And  they  shall  take  of  the 
blood  and  strike  it  on  the  two  side-posts  and  on 
the  upper  door-post  of  the  houses,  wherein  they 
shall  eat  it.  And  they  shall  eat  the  flesh  in  that 
night,  roast  with  fire,  and  unleavened  bread  ; 
and  with  bitter  herbs  they  shall  eat  it."  "And 
the  blood  shall  be  to  you  for  a  token  upon  the 
houses  where  you  are ;  and  when  I  see  the  blood, 


ITS    STRUCTURE.  27 


I  will  pass  over  you,  and  the  plague  shall  not  be 
upon  you  to  destroy  you,  when  I  smite  the  land 
of  Egypt.  And  this  day  shall  be  unto  you  for 
a  memorial ;  and  ye  shall  keep  it  a  feast  to  the 
Lord  throughout  your  generation  ;  ye  shall  keep 
it  a  feast  by  an  ordinance  for  ever."  "It  is  a 
night  to  be  much  observed  unto  the  Lord  for 
bringing  them  out  from  the  land  of  Egypt :  this 
is  that  night  of  the  Lord  to  be  observed  of  all 
the  children  of  Israel  in  their  generations." 
"This  is  the  ordinance  of  the  Passover."  "A 
foreigner  and  a  hired  servant  shall  not  eat  there- 
of. In  one  house  shall  it  be  eaten;  thou  shalt 
not  carry  forth  aught  of  the  flesh  abroad  out  of 
the  house  ;  neither  shall  ye  brake  a  bone  thereof. 
All  the  congregation  of  Israel  shall  keep  it. 
And  when  a  stranger  shall  sojourn  with  thee, 
and  will  keep  the  Passover  to  the  Lord,  let  all 
his  males  be  circumcised,  and  then  let  him  come 
near  and  keep  it ;  and  he  shall  be  as  one  that  is 
born  in  the  land ;  for  no  uncircumcised  person 
shall  eat  thereof.  One  law  shall  be  to  him  that 
is  home-born,  and  unto  the  stranger  that  sojourn- 
eth  among  you." 

3.  Such  in  substance  was  the  frame  and  form 
of  the  Passover,  given  to  the  Hebrews  to  per- 
petually remind  them  of  their  salvation  from 
Egypt  by  the  hand  of  God,  and  their  consequent 


28  THE    SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


obligation  to  be  his  peculiar  people,  and  to  walk 
in  all  his  commandments.  This  Institution  has 
been  carefully  kept  by  the  Jews  to  this  day.  The 
Saviour  continued  to  observe  it  till  he  brought 
in  a  better — the  Christian  Passover.  When  he 
was  about  to  be  given  up  as  a  sacrifice  for  us, 
and  his  blood  was  to  be  poured  out  as  the  price 
of  redemption,  he  first  observed  the  old  Institu- 
tion, as  being  yet  valid  until  the  higher  redemp- 
tion should  be  achieved,  and  then  transferred  or 
changed  the  old  Institution  to  new,  and  higher, 
and  more  spiritual  and  luminous  ground :  he 
transformed  and  transfigured  it  into  the  simpli- 
city, light,  and  glory  of  the  new  Dispensation. 
The  Christian  Passover  commemorates  the  death 
of  Christ,  and  memorializes  his  atoning  work, 
signifying  that  those  that  are  his  are  passed  over 
by  the  angel  of  justice  on  account  of  the  appro- 
priation of  his  blood  in  their  behalf.  In  the 
Supper,  an  Institution  all  simple  in  structure  yet 
all  sublime  in  significancy,  we  have  the  consum- 
mation and  fulfillment  of  the  sacrifices  rendered 
by  Abel  and  Enoch,  and  Noah  and  Abraham, 
and  all  Israel.  All  the  Jewish  offerings  and  the 
Paschal  Lamb  pointed  to  Him  who  hung  on  Cal- 
vary, and  whose  blood  cleanseth  from  all  sin. 

4.   The  obligation  of  believers,  the  true  seed 
of  Abraham,  to   observe  the  Passover,  ceased, 


ITS    STRUCTURE.  29 


when  the  Lamb  of  God  offered  himself  once  for 
all,  having  now  instituted  the  Supper  to  take  the 
place  of  the  old  type.  And  now  all  the  Jewish 
ceremonies  ceased  to  be  binding  :  the  object  they 
contemplated  had  come.  The  Theocracy  gave 
place  to  the  Dispensation  of  the  Spirit,  with  more 
simple  and  significant  modes  of  worship.  The 
symbols  yielded  to  the  substance  ;  the  types  to 
the  archetype  ;  the  dim  faith  to  the  inner  life. 
The  stars  cease  to  give  light  when  the  sun  is 
risen.  Henceforth  all  the  circumcised  in  heart, 
being  enlightened  by  new  measures  of  the  Spirit, 
and  being  admitted  by  the  new  ordinance  of 
baptism  into  the  house  of  God,  which  is  his 
Church,  are  to  observe  the  Supper  instead  of  the 
Passover. 

5.  To  make  the  Supper  Institution  as  simple 
as  possible,  while  it  should  yet  embrace  symbols 
sufficient  to  recall  the  great  ideas  needed  for  the 
refreshment  and  invigoration  of  true  faith,  the 
Lord  omitted  the  use  of  flesh  and  blood  and 
bitter  herbs,  and  chose  only  bread  and  the  fruit 
of  the  vine ;  the  bread  to  be  broken  as  a  symbol 
of  his  broken  body ;  the  wine  to  be  poured  out 
as  a  symbol  of  his  shed  blood ;  and  both  to  be 
shared  by  all  the  members  of  the  new  families — 
the  churches — as  a  symbol  of  their  vital  union 
with  Christ  their  living  Head.  Thus,  with  these 
3* 


30  THE    SUPPER    INSTITUTION. 


simple  elements — the  elements  by  which  the  body- 
is  nourished  and  strengthened — every  church,  in 
whatever  country,  or  age,  or  condition,  might 
hold  before  their  own  eyes,  and  to  the  gaze  of 
the  perishing  around  them,  memorials  of  Christ 
crucified  as  the  hope  of  every  soul. 

6.  We  may  now  come  to  consider  what  things 
are  essential  in  the  valid  observance  of  this  In- 
stitution. And  we  first  inquire  whether  it  is 
necessary  to  always  use  unleavened  bread.  Un- 
leavened bread  was  used  by  the  Saviour,  since  no 
other  kind  was  to  be  found  in  a  Jewish  house  at 
the  celebration  of  the  Passover.  But  nothing 
is  commanded  on  this  point.  And  we  are  not 
informed  whether  the  first  churches,  planted  by 
the  Apostles,  used  leavened  or  unleavened  bread. 
Were  my  own  choice  consulted,  I  should  always 
prefer  bread  that  had  no  leaven  in  it,  as,  by  the 
power  of  association,  it  would  assist  my  mind  in 
recalling  more  vividly  the  first  observance  of  the 
Institution.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  has 
always  used  unleavened  bread,  which,  being  small 
and  thin,  is  termed  the  wafer.  But  the  wafer  is 
not  broken  and  distributed  to  the  laity  of  that 
church ;  it  is  simply  dipped  into  the  cup  and 
then  barely  applied  to  the  lips.  Now  Protest- 
ants have  usually  preferred  leavened  bread,  be- 
cause it  is  more  convenient,  and  perhaps,  withal, 


ITS    STRUCTURE.  31 


from  a  fear  of  imitating  some  of  the  superstitions 
of  the  Papacy.  Still,  as  nothing  has  been  com- 
manded on  this  point,  and  the  example  of  the 
first  churches  is  silent,  and  as  it  is  usually 
more  convenient,  we  ought  not  to  assert  that  the 
use  of  unleavened  bread  is  essential  to  the  valid 
observance  of  the  Institution.  On  board  of  a 
ship  it  would  be  convenient  to  use  unleavened 
bread,  and  perhaps  under  some  other  circum- 
stances. I  suppose  the  proper  rule  is,  to  use 
such  bread  as  we  usually  make  in  our  families. 
Any  other  rule  might  lead  to  superstitious  no- 
tions in  regard  to  the  qualities  of  the  element, 
and  so  obscure  the  higher  meaning  and  the 
spirituality  of  the  Supper.  All  that  is  necessary 
is,  that  we  use  bread,  and  that  we  break  it  with 
devout  thanksgiving,  and  distribute  it  among 
ourselves — always  recognizing  it  simply  as  a 
symbol  of  the  Lord's  body  broken  for  us. 

7.  In  respect  to  the  cup,  the  Saviour  has  left  no 
command  in  regard  to  the  kind  or  quality  of  wine 
to  be  used.  Here  again  we  are  left  to  do  the  best 
we  can  in  our  circumstances.  Certainly  it  would  be 
advisable  to  use,  if  possible,  such  wine  as  is  not 
intoxicating.  The  wine  used  on  Jewish  tables, 
and  used  by  the  Saviour  in  the  Passover,  was  not 
intoxicating.  Manifestly  the  judicious  and  proper 
rule  is  to  use,  in  each  country,  the  wine  that  is 


32  THE    SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


common.  We  regard  it  as  essential,  however, 
that  the  cup  should  contain  "  the  fruit  of  the 
vine."  This  was  used,  doubtless,  not  simply  be- 
cause it  was  found  on  the  Passover  table,  but 
also  because  it  is  most  expressive  of  blood,  and 
because  it  was  pressed  out  by  violence,  as  was  the 
blood  of  the  Saviour. 

8.  The  frequency  with  which  the  Institution 
should  be  observed  is  nowhere  specified  by  our 
Lord,  or  by  his  Apostles.  Here  again  we  are 
left  to  consult  our  circumstances  and  necessities. 

It  may  be  observed  annually,  semi-annually, 
quarterly,  monthly,  or  weekly,  as  a  church  may 
think  proper.  The  Saviour  only  commanded 
that  it  should  be  kept,  and  always  kept  strictly 
in  remembrance  of  him.  He  was  less  anxious 
about  times  and  outward  circumstances  than 
about  the  object  of  the  Institution,  and  the  spirit 
in  which  it  should  be  observed.  That  it  should 
be  observed  frequently,  has  been  inferred  from 
the  usage  of  the  first  churches,  and  from  the 
words  of  Paul.  "  For  as  often  as  ye  eat  this 
bread  and  drink  this  cup,  ye  do  show  the  Lord's 
death  till  he  come."  1  Cor.  xi.  26.  It  is  sup- 
posed that  the  apostolic  churches  established  the 
Supper  weekly,  in  support  of  which  opinion  re- 
ference is  made  to  Acts  xx.  T.  "  And  upon  the 
first  day  of  the  week,  when  the  disciples  came  to' 


ITS    STRUCTURE. 


gether  to  break  bread,  Paul  preached  unto  them." 
But  whether  this  was  the  practice  of  the  church 
at  Troas  or  not,  since  the  Agapae  are  doubt- 
less here  alluded  to,  it  might  not  have  been  the 
usage  of  all  the  churches.  In  short,  the  Xew 
Testament  contains  no  rule  in  regard  to  the  fre- 
quency with  which  the  Institution  should  be 
celebrated.  Some  Protestant  Churches,  in  Scot- 
land, in  England,  and  in  this  country,  observe  it 
on  every  Lord's  Day.  In  some  countries  the 
Romish  Church  has,  for  ages,  celebrated  mass 
every  Sunday.  In  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
this  country,  the  Supper  is  celebrated  either  twice 
or  four  times  a  year.  Some  churches  keep  it 
once  in  two  months.  But  the  majority  of  Pro- 
testants, I  think,  observe  it  monthly.  Every 
church,  of  course,  is  at  liberty  to  choose  its  own 
time,  as  may  best  promote  its  right  observance, 
and  conduce  to  the  spiritual  improvement  of  the 
body. 

9.  A  few  bodies  of  Christians,  at  different 
times  in  the  history  of  the  church,  have  asso- 
ciated with  the  Supper,  as  if  it  were  an  integral 
part  of  the  Institution,  the  custom  of  washing 
each  other's  feet.  This  is  done  in  imitation  of 
that  tender  and  expressive  act  of  our  Lord,  when, 
after  Supper,  he  laid  aside  his  garments  and  took 
a  towel  and  girded  himself — after  the  manner  of 


34  THE    SUPPER    INSTITUTION. 


the  humblest  servant — and  poured  water  into  a 
basin  and  began  to  wash  the  disciples'  feet,  and 
to  wipe  them  with  the  towel  wherewith  he  was 
girded. 

They  suppose  that  the  Saviour  intended  to 
establish  a  positive  rule  when  he  said  :  "  If  I, 
then,  your  Lord  and  Master,  have  washed  your 
feet,  ye  also  ought  to  wash  one  another's  feet. 
For  I  have  given  you  an  example,  that  ye  should 
do  as  I  have  done  to  you."  But  the  Saviour,  we 
conclude,  intended  to  establish  a  principle  and 
not  an  outward  act,  a  moral  rule  in  respect  to 
our  duties  toward  each  other,  and  not  a  particu- 
lar mode  or  ceremony  of  washing  each  other's 
feet.  Besides,  we  lind  no  such  custom  prevailing 
in  the  apostolic  churches  in  connection  with  the 
Supper.  In  the  act  mentioned,  our  Lord  not 
only  manifested  his  great  love  for  his  people, 
and  his  wonderful  condescension,  he  also  in- 
tended to  convey  to  them  the  important  idea  that 
all  their  purification  was  from  him,  that  he  alone 
could  make  them  walk  in  purity  and  safety. 
Peter  so  understood  the  Saviour's  explanation 
of  the  act,  and  hence,  after  objecting,  yielded, 
saying  :  "  Lord,  not  my  feet  only,  but  my  hands 
and  my  head."  This  ceremony  was  no  part  of 
the  Supper,  for  that,  we  read,  "  was  ended."  Still 
if  any  are  conscientiously  moved  to  observe  such 


ITS    STRUCTURE.  35 


a  ceremony,  either  in  connection  with  the  Sapper, 
or  at  another  time,  we  would  not  make  them  of- 
fenders for  such  a  cause.  It  is  far  better,  how- 
ever, wholly  to  omit  unnecessary  things,  lest  they 
obscure  the  truth  and  the  necessary  forms. 

10.  Ought  the  Supper  to  be  celebrated  in  the 
evening  ?  The  Paschal  Lamb  was  eaten  in  the 
evening ;  hence  it  was  evening  when  our  Lord 
instituted  the  Supper.  But  there  is  neither  posi- 
tive law  nor  example  found  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment as  to  the  time  of  day  for  its  observance. 
This,  like  the  question  of  its  frequency,  is  left  to 
the  judgment  and  convenience  of  the  churches. 
It  must  be  admitted  that  the  evening  would  fur- 
nish associations  not  belonging  to  the  hours  of 
light,  and  hence  those  churches  that  choose  to 
solemnize  the  Institution  in  the  evening  are  not 
to  be  reproved.  Always,  our  best  convenience, 
and  especially  the  profit  of  the  church,  are  to  be 
consulted. 

11.  The  question  of  posture  in  the  reception 
of  the  elements  may  require  a  thought,  since  the 
practice  in  this  matter  is  somewhat  variant. 
Ought  we  to  recline  ?  or  sit  ?  or  stand  ?  or 
kneel  ?  The  Jews  reclined  at  the  table  ;  hence 
Jesus  and  the  Apostles  reclined,  doubtless,  at  the 
Passover  and  at  the  Supper.  A  suitable  rule,  we 
suppose,  is,  to  follow  the  custom  of  the  country 


36  THE    SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


in  which  we  live ;  an  uncommon  attitude  would 
be  liable  to  distract  our  own  mind  and  to  convey 
to  the  minds  of  others  the  idea  that  forms  and 
positions  wrere  essentials  of  the  Institution. 

In  this  connection,  I  cannot  refrain  from  no- 
ticing the  unhappy  and  unphilosophical  remarks 
of  Dr.  D  wight,  since  they  have  often  been  re- 
peated and  endorsed  by  others.  He  says : 
"  Those  who  contend  so  strenuously  for  immer- 
sion as  essential  to  the  ordinance  of  baptism, 
from  the  meaning  of  the  word  baptizo,  and  the 
few  hints  which  they  think  they  find  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Scriptures,  are  bound,  on  their  own 
principle,  to  spread  a  table  in  the  evening,  to  sit 
in  a  reclining  posture,  and  thus  to  celebrate  this 
sacrament  on  the  evening  preceding  every  Lord's 
Day.  All  this  ought  also  to  be  done  in  a  large 
upper-room,  contained  in  a  private  dwelling."* 
Now  the  time,  place,  exact  posture,  and  fre- 
quency of  celebrating  the  Institution,  are  not  the 
Institution,  or  the  essential  parts  of  the  Institu- 
tion, because  not  embodied  in  the  command  ;  they 
are  only  accompanying  circumstances.  Whereas, 
baptism  is  an  essential  thing,  because  it  is  em- 
bodied in  the  Lord's  command.  Immersion  is 
the  central  idea  and  act  of  the  ordinance,  as  the 

*  Theology,  vol.  4,  p.  356. 


ITS    STRUCTURE.  37 


word  baptizo  declares,  and  as  the  not  "a  few 
hints,"  but  the  constant  and  distinct  allusions 
found  "in  the  language  of  the  Scriptures,"  also 
bear  witness.  Immersion  is  not  a  mode,  but  the 
mode  of  baptism  :  it  is  in  the  mode  that  the  or- 
dinance consists.  Christ's  statute  is  fulfilled  only 
by  baptism  and  not  by  sprinkling  or  pouring. 
And  in  regard  to  this  ordinance  we  might  re- 
mark, that  the  matters  of  time,  place,  and  exact 
posture  are  not  the  essentials,  because  not  em- 
braced in  the  command,  but  merely  the  accidents 
or  circumstances  connected  with  the  ordinance, 
and  hence  may  be  different  in  different  cases. 

We  are  not  at  liberty  to  change  any  of  the 
essential  parts  of  the  Supper  Institution,  or  to 
appropriate  it  in  any  other  way  than  the  New 
Testament  directs.  There  must  be  the  bread 
and  the  cup.  There  must  be  thanksgiving  and 
praise.  There  must  be  a  remembrance  of  Christ 
and  a  recognition,  by  faith,  of  what  he  has  done 
for  us.  The  Institution  must  be  kept  by  churches 
and  churches  only. 

And  here,  as  a  matter  of  plain  history,  it  is 
but  right  to  add,  that  the  Baptists,  beyond  every 
denomination  of  Christians,  have  guarded  the 
structure,  the  essential  form,  the  spirit,  the  limits, 
and  the  application  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  as 
well  as  the  ordinance  of  baptism,  from  miscon- 
4 


38  THE    SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


ception  and  abuse,  holding  singly  and  persist- 
ently to  the  laws  and  examples  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament; for  which  course,  unfortunately,  they 
have  often  been  charged  with  closeness,  narrow- 
ness, and  bigotry. 

12.  The  Church  of  Rome,  consistent  with  her 
claim  to  the  Keys  of  the  Kingdom  and  of  plen- 
ary power  alike  to  legislate  and  abrogate  in 
sacred  things,  has  both  changed  the  ordinance 
of  baptism  in  its  ordinary  form  and  in  its  appli- 
cation, and  changed  the  essential  structure  and 
appropriation  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  As  she 
freely  confesses,  and  for  reasons  assigned,  she 
changed  baptism  into  sprinkling,  and  then  ad- 
ministered her  sprinkling  even  to  infants.  By 
the  same  authority,  she  withheld  the  cup  from 
the  laity,  only  allowing  their  lips  to  be  touched 
with  the  wet  wafer,  having  erected  the  monstrous 
dogma  of  transubstantiation,  or  the  real  presence 
of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  in  the  conse- 
crated elements.  And  to  complete  her  error  and 
guilt,  she  claims,  in  the  celebration  of  mass,  the 
power  of  offering  the  transubstantiated  elements 
as  a  propitiatory  sacrifice  for  the  living  and  the 
dead.  The  conduct  and  condition  of  the  Church 
of  Rome  may  at  least  remind  us  of  the  necessity 
of  adhering  closely  to  the  precepts  and  pre- 
cedents of  the  New  Testament. 


ITS    STRUCTURE.  39 


13.  The  question  may  here  be  asked,  By  whose 
hands  particularly  shall  the  Supper  be  adminis- 
tered ?  We  reply,  by  the  hands  of  the  church 
observing  it,  through  the  regular  and  proper  offi- 
cers of  the  church.  The  Institution  was  given  not 
to  the  Apostles  as  mere  apostles,  not  to  ministers, 
not  to  deacons,  but  to  churches  as  churches. 
Churches  are  the  only  corporations  or  legally  or- 
ganized bodies  known  in  the  New  Testament,  and 
appointed  by  Christ.  All  ordinances  and  insti- 
tutions must,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  be  given 
to  corporations  or  legally  organized  bodies.  The 
Supper  Institution  therefore  is  given  to  each  Xew 
Testament  church.  A.nd  as  the  official  acts  of  a 
body  should  be  performed  by  the  regular  officers 
of  the  body,  the  Supper  should  be  administered 
by  the  pastor  of  the  church,  assisted,  as  may  be 
necessary,  by  the  deacons.  The  right  and  power 
of  administration  is  always  in  the  church,  inher- 
ing in  the  body  by  the  authority  of  Christ.  Of- 
ficers act  for  the  church,  as  the  servants  of  the 
body.  And  under  peculiar  circumstances,  a 
church  may  invite  the  officers  of  another  church  to 
assist  them  in  performing  the  public  or  official 
acts  of  the  church.  But  in  no  case  should  a 
church  surrender  its  independency  or  any  of  its 
corporate  rights.  Their  faithfulness  to  Christ, 
and  their  responsibility  for  the  order  of  the  gos- 


40  THE    SUPPER    INSTITUTION. 


pel,  should  stimulate  them  in  defending  the  purity 
and  powers  of  the  house  of  God. 

14.  But  a  greater  question  arises  ;  why  do  we, 
under  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit,  need  such  an 
institution  at  all ;  and  how  is  it  adapted  to  do 
us  spiritual  good  ?  To  this  we  reply  :  Accord- 
ing to  a  fixed  law  of  our  nature  we  receive  most 
of  our  impressions,  even  of  spiritual  things,  di- 
rectly or  indirectly  through  the  senses.  Indeed 
this  may  be  termed  the  great  educational  law  of 
human  nature.  We  are  well  aware  that  all  our 
first  ideas  of  things  are  obtained  through  the 
channels  of  our  senses.  And  if  we  carefully  con- 
sider the  matter,  we  shall  find  that  however  far 
we  may  have  advanced  in  any  department  of 
knowledge,  being  now  able  to  proceed  some 
lengths  and  ascend  some  heights,  by  the  power  of 
internal  and  original  suggestion  and  abstract 
thought,  yet  we  are  always  greatly  helped  by 
sensible  objects.  We  always,  to  say  the  least, 
need  our  senses  as  auxiliaries  and  prompters. 
The  deepest  and  most  abiding  impressions  are 
made  upon  our  minds  through  the  senses.  The 
sight  of  our  eyes,  and  the  hearing  of  our  ears, 
and  the  thrills  of  touch,  do  deeply  affect  our 
hearts.  This  great  law  is  constantly  experienced, 
but  is  not  sufficiently  studied  and  husbanded  in 
the  enjoyments,  obligations,  and   labors  of  life. 


ITS    STRUCTURE.  41 


We  may  read  of  a  man's  dying  a  painful  and 
dreadful  death ;  but  to  witness  such  a  death 
makes  a  very  different  impression.  We  may  hear 
of  a  terrible  conflagration;  but  to  see  immense 
buildings  wrapped  in  red,  wrathful  flames  rolling 
up  to  the  sky  in  wild  fury  while  the  huge  piles  fall 
blazing  and  crashing  to  the  ground,  affects  us  far 
more  deeply,  and  leaves  upon  us  ineffaceable  im- 
pressions. Pictures  are  always  more  impressive 
than  narratives,  because  they  enter,  as  it  were, 
into  us  by  the  natural  inlets  of  our  nature ; 
they  reach  the  soul  through  the  shortest  and 
most  natural  channels.  All  educators  ought  to 
remember  this  fact,  and  follow  this  great  princi- 
ple or  law  of  our  nature.  Sensible  objects  and 
manifestations  are  adapted  to  impress  and  in- 
struct us  far  more  than  bare  narratives  and  reci- 
tals ;  and  this  is  by  a  fixed  law  of  our  organism. 
Now  it  was  in  accordance  with  this  great  law 
of  our  nature,  that  the  Lord  Jesus,  the  author  of 
our  nature  and  the  plan  of  salvation,  appointed 
the  ordinances  of  Baptism  and  the  Supper.  '  He 
knew  that  it  would  be  best  for  his  people,  and 
for  the  world,  that  there  should  be  a  visible  boun- 
dary to  his  churches,  speaking  of  what  was  ne- 
cessary on  the  part  of  all  who  should  enter  his 
visible  kingdom;  and  also  a  visible  institution  in 
each  of  his  churches,  speaking  of  the  vital  con- 
4* 


42  THE    SUPPER    INSTITUTION. 


nection  of  each  of  the  members  with  himself. 
Here  is  evinced  Christ's  wisdom  and  goodness 
and  love.  Baptism  is  a  beautiful  and  speaking 
ordinance,  epitomising  to  the  mind,  through  the 
senses,  alike  to  the  person  baptized  and  to  those 
who  witness  the  baptism,  the  great  doctrines  of 
salvation,  showing  the  necessity  of  a  new  birth,  a 
death  to  sin,  a  resurrection  to  newness  of  life,  a 
vital  union  with  Christ,  and  the  baptism  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  The  Supper  Institution  is  equally 
significant,  but  of  other  truths.  It  is  a  picture 
of  Christ  crucified.  It  is  the  death  of  the  cross 
pressed  home  upon  the  awakened  attention  of  be- 
lievers through  the  senses  of  hearing,  sight  and 
touch.  What  a  simple,  rich,  effectual  represen- 
tation of  Christ  crucified  is  the  Supper  Institu- 
tion when  properly  observed  !  As  a  means  of 
grace,  accommodated  to  our  natures,  no  narrative 
could  compare  with  it. 

The  solemn  preparation ;  the  serious  assem- 
bling ;  the  prayerful  and  penitent  language  em- 
ployed in  the  introduction  ;  the  earnest  thanks- 
givings uttered  ;  the  breaking  of  the  bread  ;  the 
silent  participation  ;  the  second  giving  of  thanks 
and  imploring  the  Holy  Spirit's  presence ;  the 
pouring  of  the  cup ;  the  silent  participation 
while  each  soul  commences  with  Christ  and  prays 
for  perfect  cleansing ;  and  then  the  common 
hymn    of  praise  ;  all   give  to  the  Institution  a 


ITS   STRUCTURE.  43 


meaning,  a  solemnity,  a  force,  a  spiritual  power 
beyond  the  scope  of  language  to  express.  It  is 
an  unrivalled  Institution,  as  confessed  by  all  who, 
having  the  proper  qualifications  of  heart  and  of 
life,  have  enjoyed  it.  As  in  significancy,  so  in 
force,  it  far  surpasses  the  old  Passover.  The 
parts  of  the  Institution  are  all  perfectly  simple,  and 
so  are  easily  contemplated  by  the  mind.  The 
manner  of  observing  it  is  plain,  easy  and  natural, 
hence  the  mind  is  not  diverted  or  in  the  least  dis- 
tracted. The  symbols  are  appropriate,  as  denoting 
that  our  spiritual  life  is  drawn  from  Christ  and 
sustained  by  him.  The  breaking  of  the  bread 
and  the  pouring  of  the  wine  are  lively  portraits 
of  the  sacrifice,  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ. 
There  is  nothing  wanting  to  make  the  scene 
complete,  impressive  and  instructive.  We  seem 
to  hear,  and  see,  and  feel  that  Christ  our  Passover 
was  slain  for  us  ;  and  we  grasp  anew  the  hope  and 
promise  of  seeing  him  as  he  is,  and  sitting  down 
with  him  in  his  heavenly  kingdom.  And  no 
Christian,  who  thoroughly  studies  this  Institu- 
tion, will  feel  that  he  can  afford  to  neglect 
the  ordinance  of  Christ,  by  which  he  is  admitted 
into  a  visible  family  of  our  Lord,  so  that  he  can 
share,  among  the  duties  of  a  Christian  life,  the 
privilege  and  joys  incident  to  a  proper  observance 
of  this  preeminently  beautiful,  significant  and 
profitable  Institution. 


CHAPTER  III. 

DESIGN    OP    THE   INSTITUTION. 

1.  The  central  idea  of  an  Institution  is  found 
in  its  Design.  Unless  we  comprehend  this,  it 
will  be  profitless  to  study  its  origin  or  contem- 
plate its  structure.  And,  as  we  shall  have  occa- 
sion to  show  hereafter,  not  a  few  who  observe 
the  Lord's  Supper,  seem  not  fully  to  have  ap- 
prehended its  design.  Every  form  of  Christian 
service  and  worship  should  be  attended  with  its 
fitting  spirit  and  in  view  of  its  proposed  ends. 
And  happy  is  that  church  that  duly  keeps  the 
Supper  Institution  in  anticipation  of  its  true 
purposes. 

2.  In  seeking  after  the  design  of  the  Supper,  our 
views  may  be  somewhat  assisted  by  glancing  at  the 
purpose  of  the  Passover  which  the  Supper  has  sup- 
planted. The  Paschal  Supper  was  a  simple,  but 
grand,  old  Institution,  designed  to  memorialize 
the  salvation  of  the  Hebrew  families  on  that  ter- 
rible night  when  the  destroying  angel  swept  his 

(44) 


ITS    DESIGN.  45 


dark,  cold  wings  over  the  doomed  land  of  Egypt. 
Well  might  all  the  children  of  Abraham  that 
came  out  of  the  land  of  their  prison-house,  re- 
member the  night  of  their  departure ;  that 
solemn  night  when,  "at  midnight  the  Lord  smote 
all  the  first-born  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  from  the 
first-born  of  Pharaoh  that  sat  on  his  throne,  unto 
the  first-born  of  the  captive  that  was  in  the  dun- 
geon, and  all  the  first-born  of  the  cattle ;"  when 
"  there  was  a  great  cry  in  Egypt,  for  there  was 
not  a  house  where  there  was  not  one  dead ;" 
when  the  children  of  Israel  "took  their  dough 
before  it  was  leavened,  their  kneading-troughs 
being  bound  up  in  their  clothes  upon  their  shoul- 
ders," and  they  went  "  out  of  the  land  in  haste." 
The  Hebrew  families  were  spared  in  the  deadly 
visitation,  because  the  blood  of  the  Paschal 
Lamb  was  found  on  their  door-posts. 

We  can  easily  imagine  how,  in  after  years,  these 
families,  as  they  prepared  and  ate  the  Passover, 
called  to  mind  the  scenes  of  their  wonderful  de- 
liverance, and  the  great  grace  of  the  Lord  their 
God.  The  Paschal  Lamb,  the  unleavened  bread, 
the  bitter  herbs,  the  blood,  the  attitude  of  travel- 
ers, all  were  "tokens"  of  those  wonderful  scenes 
in  which  their  salvation  began.  In  their  thoughts 
and  conversation,  while  keeping  the  Institution, 
they  lived  over  again  their  former  experiences, 


4G  THE    SUPPER    INSTITUTION. 


and  so  felt  fresh  gushings  of  gratitude  and  praise 
to  the  God  of  their  salvation.  We  can  see  at 
onee  that  no  words,  no  reading  of  records,  no 
commemorative  songs,  no  stately  history,  no  re- 
cital, could  have  so  preserved  and  impressed  the 
memory  of  that  wonderful  deliverance  upon  the 
minds  and  hearts  of  the  Hebrews  through  all  their 
history,  as  did  the  observance  of  the  Passover. 

And,  as  if  to  make  its  effect  more  direct,  dis- 
tinct, and  national,  the  Lord  gave  the  Institution 
to  every  single  family  of  the  nation,  with  the  spe- 
cific command  that  each  family  should  observe  it 
by  itself.  Thus  every  Hebrew  man,  and  woman, 
and  child  even,  was  made,  as  it  were,  to  see  and 
feel  and  taste  that  the  Lord  their  God  was  a  Sa- 
viour. 

3.  But  the  Passover  is  far  surpassed  in  simpli- 
city, significance  and  moral  effect  by  the  Chris- 
tian Supper.  The  Supper  memorializes  a  spirit- 
ual deliverance,  a  moral  rescue  far  greater  than 
any  temporal  emancipation,  and  is  withal  a 
solemn  pledge  of  the  second  coming  of  our  De- 
liverer to  take  us  to  the  heavenly  Canaan.  It 
speaks  of  a  mightier  and  more  enduring  inter- 
vention than  that  by  which  Israel  was  released 
from  his  prison-house,  and  redeemed  from  the 
land  of  oppression ;  it  speaks  of  a  salvation 
from  the  bondage  of  sin  and  the  grasp  of  Satan, 


ITS    DESIGN.  47 


a  salvation  from  eternal  death  and  an  inheritance 
with  the  Son  of  God  in  his  Father's  kingdom 
above. 

4.  The  leading  design  of  the  Supper  Institu- 
tion is  to  present  to  our  minds  the  Lamb  of  God 
'who  taketh  away  our  sins.  This  is  the  central, 
vital  truth  of  the  Christian  System,  and  indeed 
of  the  whole  body  of  revelation.  The  Supper 
re-enunciates  the  substance  of  the  gospel ;  that 
God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only  be- 
gotten Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  on  him 
might  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life  ;  that 
the  Son  of  God,  who  thought  it  not  robbery  to 
be  equal  with  the  Father,  made  himself  of  no  re- 
putation, and  took  upon  him  the  form  of  a  serv- 
ant, and  was  made  in  the  likeness  of  men ;  and 
being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  he  humbled 
himself  and  became  obedient  unto  death,  even 
the  death  of  the  cross,  that  we,  through  his  obe- 
dience and  sufferings,  might  be  saved.  The 
breaking  of  the  bread  and  the  pouring  out  of  the 
crimson  cup,  show  us  the  body  and  blood,  the 
life  and  death,  the  obedience  and  sacrifices  of  the 
Son  of  God.  By  the  symbols,  we  are  enabled 
and  even  compelled  to  recall,  as  we  could  not  by 
reading  or  reflection  upon  a  record,  the  tragedy 
of  Calvary,  the  Drama  of  the  Cross — the  theme 
of  angels,  and  the  central  truth  of  earth's  history. 


48  THE    SUPPER    INSTITUTION. 


No  words,  no  songs,  no  paintings,  could  accom- 
plish, in  the  mind,  and  on  the  heart,  the  results 
that  are  effected  by  witnessing  and  sharing  the 
Supper.  We  have  looked  upon  paintings  and  en- 
gravings of  the  Supper  scene  ;  some  have  these 
suspended  on  the  walls  of  their  dwellings  :  some 
have  the  scene  painted  on  the  walls  of  churches ; 
but  these  representations  of  the  pencil,  though 
they  may  aid  in  making  the  record  felt  and  re- 
membered, fail  to  impress  us  as  deeply  and  as 
personally  as  a  participation  in  the  Supper, 
where  the  living  voice,  the  tangible  elements,  and 
the  whole  order  of  the  Institution,  under  the 
command  of  Christ — all  are  gently,  strongly 
pressed  home  upon  the  soul  through  the  senses. 

5.  Not  of  facts  only,  but  of  doctrines  as  well, 
does  this  precious  Institution  of  the  gospel 
speak.  In  speaking  of  the  Cross,  it  of  necessity 
speaks  of  the  great  doctrines  of  the  Christian 
system  that  cluster  on  the  Cross  like  jewels  on  a 
crown. 

Here  we  seem  to  hear  it  reasserted  that  all 
men  are  lost ;  that  all  are  under  condemnation  ; 
that  works  and  prayers  and  sacrifices  are  in 
themselves  of  no  avail;  that  salvation  is  impos- 
sible except  through  another,  and  that  one  the 
victim  offered  on  Calvary. 

Here  we  seem  to  see  in  vivid  portraiture  the 


ITS   DESIGN.  40 


doctrine  of  atonement ;  that  the  sins  of  men 
must  be  expiated  by  sufferings,  by  the  sacrifice 
of  a  life  infinitely  valuable,  by  the  shedding  of 
blood  so  efficacious  that  it  can  cleanse  from  all  sin. 

Here  we  discover  anew,  and  contemplate  with 
thanksgiving,  the  great  doctrine  that  by  grace  we 
are  saved  through  faith  ;  that  unless  God  in  his 
love  had  formed  a  purpose  of  mercy  toward  us, 
and  had  laid  help  on  One  mighty  to  save,  we  all 
had  perished  under  the  hand  of  justice. 

In  contemplating  the  great  fact  that  the  death 
of  the  Son  of  God  was  necessary  in  procuring 
our  salvation,  we  discover  the  greatness  of  sin 
and  the  deep  dye  of  our  guilt.  Nothing  less 
than  a  sacrifice  of  infinite  value  could  meet  our 
case  and  cancel  our  sin.  Had  it  been  possible  to 
save  man  by  a  less  sacrifice,  the  only  begotten  of 
the  Father  would  not  have  been  delivered  up  for 
us  :  had  it  been  possible,  the  cup  of  sufferings 
and  death  would  not  have  been  pressed  to  the 
lips  of  God's  Son. 

Moreover,  the  dignity  and  worth  of  the  victim  ; 
the  thoroughness  of  his  manifold  sufferings  ;  and 
the  fact  that  his  propitiation  was  accepted  by  the 
Father,  as  evinced  by  his  being  raised  from  the 
dead,  shows  us  the  certainty,  as  well  as  the  great- 
ness, of  our  deliverance.  He  that  spared  not  his 
own   Son,  but  freely  gave  him  to  death  for  us, 


50  THE    SUPPER    INSTITUTION. 


will  lie  not  also  with  him  freely  give  us  all  things  ? 
And  if  we  are  saved  by  his  death,  much  more 
shall  we  now  be  saved  by  his  life,  for  he  ever 
liveth  to  make  intercession  for  us ;  and  he  has 
given  us  the  Supper  as  a  pledge  of  his  constant 
love  and  care,  and  his  purpose  to  take  us  to  him- 
self. As  our  lives  are  hid  with  Christ  in  God, 
the  destroying  angel  will  pass  over  us  in  the  last 
great  day. 

Thus  in  the  Supper  Institution  the  cardinal 
truths  of  the  Christian  system  are  written  out  as 
with  a  visible  and  ever-recording  hand.  These 
truths  are  made  almost  to  utter  themselves  au- 
dibly. And  every  true  believer  is  made  to  hear 
and  feel  them.  The  Supper  is  an  instructive, 
engaging,  speaking,  preaching  Institution.  And 
it  preaches  more  plainly,  more  truthfully,  more 
eloquently,  more  touchingly,  more  persuasively, 
than  any  lips  could  preach ;  for  all  human  lips 
have  some  stains  and  some  unhappy  associations. 

6.  But  further.  The  Supper  is  monumen- 
tal; it  was  designed,  withal,  I  think,  to  stand 
among  the  proofs  of  the  life  and  mission  of 
Christ.  It  is  a  witness  to  the  gospel  history 
as  well  as  to  the  gospel  doctrines.  It  is  a  his- 
torical witness,  very  much  as  was  the  Passover 
to  the  Jews,  and  as  is  the  Fourth  of  July  to  the 
inhabitants  of  our  country.     And  it  perpetuates 


ITS    DESIGN.  51 


a  greater  event  than  the  emancipation  of  the 
Israelites,  and  a  greater  act  than  the  declaration 
of  a  nation's  independence  ;  it  marks  the  capi- 
tal event  of  the  world's  history,  and  the  final  act 
that  brought  deliverance  to  a  suffering  and  help- 
less race.  Some  monument,  then,  of  the  event 
and  act,  is  highly  appropriate  ;  a  monument  so 
simple  that  it  may  be  carried  to  the  end  of  the 
earth,  and  so  significant  that  the  lowest  and 
humblest  may  contemplate  it  and  read  the  great 
things  that  it  perpetuates.  And  to  extend  it  as 
far  as  possible,  with  all  its  attendant  blessings, 
the  Saviour  put  it  into  the  hands  of  every  true 
company  of  disciples,  however  small,  who  in  love 
to  their  Lord  should  sacredly  keep  it. 

The  same  office,  in  part,  belongs  to  the  ordi- 
nance of  baptism.  This  ordinance  was  instituted 
as  the  peculiar  initiatory  rite  of  admission  into 
the  family  privileges,  rights  and  duties  of  Christ's 
new  and  visible  kingdom.  It  was  a  new  rite, 
chosen  expressly  for  its  significancy,  and  as  the 
door  or  act  by  which  the  convert  or  new-born 
person  enters  a  church  of  Christ.  It  is  therefore, 
in  part,  a  monumental  ordinance,  certifying  the 
origin,  the  nature,  the  regenerating  power  and 
life-imparting  spirit  of  the  gospel.  And  Jesus 
himself,  though  not  needing  this  ordinance  for 
himself,  but  in  fulfillment  and  ratification  of  the 


52  THE    SUPPEB    INSTITUTION. 


order  of  his  kingdom,  of  the  path  of  duty,  as  an 
example  to  all  who  should  believe  on  Him,  and 
propose  to  follow  Him,  was  meekly  baptized  by 
John  in  Jordan's  waves. 

But  the  Supper  Institution  is  a  more  striking 
and  more  constant  monument  of  the  setting  up  of 
the  new  dispensation.  No  one,  who  is  in  a  reason- 
able frame  of  mind,  can  witness  either  the  ordi- 
nance of  Baptism  or  the  Supper  Institution,  ob- 
served according  to  the  requirements  of  the  New 
Testament,  without  recalling  the  scenes  that  trans- 
pired on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan  and  in  the  up- 
per room  and  on  Calvary.  Baptism  and  the 
Supper  are  monuments  all  luminous  with  gospel 
history  and  radiant  with  suggestions  of  gospel 
truth. 

t.  The  world-wide  custom  of  preserving  the 
memory  of  great  personages  and  perpetuating 
great  events  by  monuments,  institutions  and  pe- 
riodical celebrations,  is,  within  certain  limits,  a 
wise  practice,  conformed  to  the  demands  of  our 
nature  and  conducive  to  private  and  public  good. 
We  love  to  celebrate  events  in  which  we  have  a 
personal  interest.  By  outward  ceremonies,  as 
well  as  by  words,  we  love  to  recall  to  our  minds 
all  that  pertains  to  some  great  event  which  in- 
volved our  welfare  and  the  interests  of  mankind. 
And  when  we  owe  our  dearest  privileges  and  en- 


ITS   DESIGN.  53 


joyments  and  hopes  to  the  labors  and  sacrifices  of 
an  individual — as  to  a  Washington — we  delight 
to  delineate  his  form  and  features  on  canvas  ;  we 
give  his  name  in  charge  to  the  marble  and  to  the 
sweet  lyre  ;  we  perpetuate  his  sacrifices  and  his 
virtues  by  the  historic  page  and  the  monumental 
pile.  Thus  doing,  we  express  our  gratitude  ;  we 
honor  what  is  noble  in  our  natures ;  we  benefit 
ourselves  by  cherishing  and  endeavoring  to  emu- 
late what  is  praiseworthy  ;  and  we  also  stimulate 
others  to  love  and  practice  good  deeds. 

8.  In  conformity  with  these  impulses  of  our 
nature, — this  great  constitutional  law  of  humani- 
ty, not  wholly  obliterated  or  perverted  by  man's 
fall, — the  Author  and  Finisher  of  eternal  salvation 
has  wisely  and  mercifully  furnished  us,  not  only 
with  an  inspired  record  of  the  plan  of  salvation, 
but  also  with  the  deeply  significant,  truth-convey- 
ing, truth-speaking  ordinance  of  Baptism  and  the 
Supper  Institution,  in  which  we  all,  who  have 
tasted  of  his  grace,  may  personally  participate 
for  our  own  good  and  the  world's  benefit.  In 
loving,  grateful  obedience  to  our  Lord,  we  accept 
these  monuments  and  hold  them  up  before  the 
world. 

9.  As  a  proof  of  any  given  event,  the  celebra- 
tion of  a  certain  day,  or  the  existence  and  ha- 
bitual observance  of  a  monumental  institution,  is 

5* 


54  THE    SI  ITER    INSTITUTION. 


an  evidence  much  stronger  than  mere  documen- 
tary proof.  It  is  an  easier  tiling  to  forge  docu- 
ments than  to  forge  institutions.  Books  and  pa- 
pers have  often  been  palmed  off  upon  an  unsus- 
pecting and  credulous  community;  whole  countries 
even  have  for  a  time  been  thus  deceived.  But  it 
is  quite  a  different  task  to  set  up  customs,  and 
celebrations,  and  monuments,  and  institutions, 
and  make  the  people  believe  that  these  have  ex- 
isted from  the  period  of  the  event  falsely  named  ; 
no  country  was  ever  thus  deceived.  Memorial 
usages  must  have  a  substantive  foundation,  a  real 
historical  origin.  Think,  for  a  moment,  how  dif- 
ficult it  would  be  to  persuade  the  inhabitants  of 
any  country,  except  our  own,  that  they  them- 
selves and  all  their  ancestors  had  celebrated  the 
Fourth  of  July  as  a  day  when  a  great  republican 
revolution  was  inaugurated  among  them. 

10.  Quite  as  easy  would  it  have  been,  at  any 
time,  to  have  palmed  off  upon  the  Christian  world 
the  idea  that  all  the  churches  then  existing  and 
all  that  had  preceded  them  had  been  in  the  habit 
of  observing  the  Supper  Institution  when  such 
had  never  been  the  fact.  The  Supper,  then,  is  a 
monumental  proof  of  the  origin  and  truth  of  the 
gospel.  And  when  to  this  consideration  we  add 
the  numerous  other  irrefragable  proofs  of  the  gen- 
uineness and  authenticity  of  the  New  Testament 


ITS    DESIGN.  55 


Scriptures,  we  see  something  of  the  solid  his- 
torical basis  of  our  holy  religion.  Ami  when  we, 
still  further,  add  the  internal  evidences  of  the  di- 
vine character  of  the  New  Testament,  and  the 
evidences  of  Christian  experience — each  convert 
being  a  witness  of  a  divine  life  imparted  to  him 
above  the  power  of  nature  to  impart — and,  to  all, 
superadd  the  early  miracles  wrought  by  Christ 
and  the  Apostles,  and  the  long  line  of  martyrs  in 
the  churches,  with  the  numerous  writings  of 
Christian  men  in  every  department  of  knowledge 
by  which  the  history  of  Christianity  is  imbedded 
and  embalmed  in  the  world's  history,  we  shall 
discover  that  the  proofs  of  Christianity  are  a 
mighty,  magnificent,  royal,  impregnable  fortress. 

11.  Again:  As  the  Supper  Institution  is  a 
standing  monument  of  the  fact  that  Christ  came 
into  the  world  to  seek  and  save  the  lost,  and  gave 
his  life  a  ransom  for  sin-bound  souls,  so  likewise 
is  it  a  sure  prophecy  and  pledge  that  he  will 
return  again  to  close  up  the  dispensation  which 
he  established,  and  take  his  ransomed  people  to 
his  Father's  house  on  high. 

Paul  says,  "As  oft  as  ye  eat  this  bread  and 
drink  this  cup,  ye  do  show  forth  the  Lord's  death 
till  he  come."  For  the  instruction,  encourage- 
ment, and  strengthening  of  his  disciples,  the 
Saviour  intended  that  the  Institution  should  both 


56  THE    SUPPER  INSTITUTION. 


point  backward  to  the  great  Day  of  Atonement — 
when  the  earth  trembled,  the  rocks  were  rent,  the 
sun  was  vailed  and  the  graves  gave  up  a  portion 
of  their  dead,  because  the  Son  of  God  hung  on  his 
cross,  a  sacrifice  for  a  guilty,  perishing  race, — and 
then  point  forward  to  the  next  greatest  day  of 
earth's  history,  when  this  same  Wonderful  Per- 
sonage, no  more  a  servant  and  a  sufferer,  but  a 
Mighty  King,  shall  come  in  the  clouds  of  heaven, 
with  all  his  holy  angels  with  him,  to  take  his 
trusting  followers  to  his  heavenly  glory.  In  fur- 
ther proof  of  this  prophetic  office  of  the  Institution, 
we  have  the  words  of  the  Saviour  himself:  "I 
will  not  drink  henceforth  of  this  fruit  of  the  vine 
until  that  day  when  I  drink  it  new  with  you 
in  my  Father's  Kingdom.''1  How  full  of  mean- 
ing then !  A  memorial  of  salvation  furnished  ; 
a  pledge  of  redemption  to  be  completed:  look- 
ing back  to  Christ  on  the  cross ;  looking  for- 
ward to  Christ  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven, 
and  afterward  distributing  joys  to  the  redeemed 
in  heaven.  How  full  of  truth  !  Abounding  in  the 
sweetest,  tenderest,  most  subduing  memories ; 
overflowing  with  promises  and  encouragements 
the  most  pure,  elevating,  sublime  and  sanctifying ! 
"What  a  heavenly  entertainment ! 

12.  The  Supper  was  designed,  as  we  have  seen, 
to  be  a  direct  and  powerful  means  of  grace,  when 


ITS   DESIGN.  57 


nnderstandingly  observed.  Such  it  has  always 
been  felt  to  be  where  simple,  earnest,  intelligent 
piety  has  flourished  and  unfolded  itself.  It  is  a 
means  adapted  to  all  the  members  of  a  church, 
whether  high  or  low,  old  or  young  ;  for  the  sym- 
bols are  so  simple  and  expressive,  that  a  picture, 
with  all  its  liveliness  and  power  of  easy  sugges- 
tions, is  addressed  even  to  the  lowest  capacity. 
Not  as  in  listening  to  preaching  and  in  reading, 
where  intellectual  culture  is  often  demanded ; 
here  the  senses  aid  the  mind  and  supply  in  part 
the  lack  of  power  in  conducting  intellectual  pro- 
cesses, and  the  Holy  Spirit  breathing  upon  and 
in  the  soul,  interprets  the  symbols,  impressing  the 
heart  in  a  way  that  enables  us  to  feel,  if  we  can- 
not utter,  the  sentiments : 

"  How  sweet  and  awful  is  the  place, 
With  Christ  within  the  doors; 
While  everlasting  Love  displays 
The  choicest  of  her  stores." 

13.  If,  as  an  elegant,  philosophical  writer  has 
observed — and  who  can  doubt  the  truth  of  the 
observation — "  We  are  insensibly  transformed  into 
the  image  which  is  continually  in  our  eye — we 
are  readily  and  almost  necessarily  assimilated  in 
character  to  the  objects  of  our  habitual  con- 
templation ;"  if  this  be  true — if  this  be  a  law  of 


58  THE    SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


our  nature,  bow  wisely,  aud  we  must  add,  how 
mercifully  has  the  Saviour  husbanded  this  law  for 
our  highest  moral  good,  by  presenting  his  own 
blessed  self — our  Lord — our  Pattern — our  right- 
eousness— our  Life — before  us  as  an  object  of 
habitual  contemplation.  The  law  and  method 
of  growing  in  grace  and  in  the  knowledge  of 
holy  and  divine  things,  of  growing  up  into  the 
image  of  God,  is  found  in  "  looking  unto  Jesus;" 
in  following  Jesus  ;  in  studying  his  character,  his 
life,  and  his  sufferings.  Thus,  under  the  Spirit's 
power,  we  are  changed  from  glory  to  glory ;  we 
are  transformed  in  character  into  his  perfect  im- 
age. It  is  in  this  connection  that  we  discover 
one  of  the  high  and  holy  designs  of  the  Supper 
Institution.  0,  the  depth  of  the  riches  of  the 
wisdom  and  mercy  of  Christ  in  the  provisions  of 
his  Gospel ! 

14.  Lastly — we  should  ever  bear  in  mind  that 
the  Supper  was  appointed  as  a  means  of  com- 
muning with  Christ.  It  was  given  to  each 
church  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  every  mem- 
ber in  remembering,  contemplating,  and,  by  faith, 
holding  spiritual  converse,  or  communion,  with 
Him  who  is  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life. 
The  Supper,  in  all  its  parts,  speaks  of  Christ, 
and  of  Christ  only ;  no  other  object  is  intro- 
duced ;   no  other  subject  is  even  associated  with 


ITS   DESIGN.  59 


it.     And   the  Saviour    expressly    commanded — 
"This  do  in  remembrance  of  me." 

15.  The  Supper  Institution  was  not  designed 
to  express  our  fellowship  for  one  another.  Such, 
therefore,  as  use  it,  or  rather  pervert  it,  in  order 
to  express  their  relations  and  feelings  toward 
each  other,  however  proper  and  praiseworthy 
their  feelings  may  be  in  themselves,  make  an  un- 
authorized and  quite  improper  use  of  the  Insti- 
tution. Manifestly  there  is  nothing  found  in  the 
narrative  of  the  origin — nothing  in  the  plan  of 
the  structure — nothing  in  the  mentioned  or  im- 
plied design — nothing  in  the  parts  taken  sepa- 
rately— nothing  in  the  order  of  the  whole  of  the 
Institution,  to  convey  the  idea  that,  by  means  of 
it  we  are  to  commune  with  one  another.  And 
it  is  certainly  wrong  to  pervert  this  priceless  In- 
stitution from  its  original  and  single  and  sublime 
purpose  of  holding  up  Christ  before  us  for  our 
contemplation,  to  the  lower  purpose  of  signifying 
and  expressing  our  relations  and  attachments  to 
each  other.  My  Christian  brother  has  not  died 
for  me,  nor  poured  out  his  life  for  my  salvation. 
Nor  have  I  given  my  life  a  ransom  for  others. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  Supper  Institution  that 
speaks  of  what  I  have  done,  that  I  should  there 
be  an  object  of  special  contemplation  by  others. 
Those  emblems  speak  not  of  what  you  have  done 


60  THE    SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


for  me,  that  I  should  use  them  as  a  token  of  my 
fellowship  and  communion  with  you.  Have  we 
been  crucified  that  we  should  take  those  emblems 
to  speak  of  what  we  have  suffered  and  what  we 
deserve  from  others.  We  may  love  one  another  ; 
we  may  have  fellowship  for  each  other  ;  we  may 
have  true  spiritual  communion  with  each  other ; 
we  may  express  our  regard  for  each  other  by  words, 
by  deeds,  by  uniting  in  praise  and  prayer  and  in 
Christian  labors;  all  this  is  proper  and  necessary. 
But  we  may  not  pervert  the  Lord's  Supper  into 
our  supper,  and  make  it  a  criterion  of  creature 
gratifications  and  creature  communion.  The 
Supper  speaks  altogether  of  what  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  has  done  to  save  our  souls  from  death. 
The  Saviour  has  set  this  Institution  in  each 
church,  that  all  his  true  followers  might  have  him 
before  them  as  the  Founder,  Head  and  Life  of 
the  church,  and  habitually  cherish  him  as  the  ob- 
ject of  their  contemplations.  In  observing  the 
Supper,  nothing  should  intervene  between  Christ 
and  our  souls.  No  man,  for  the  sake  of  exalting 
the  church  to  which  he  belongs,  for  the  sake  of 
depreciating  any  other  church,  for  the  sake  of 
magnifying  religious  offices,  or  for  any  other  plea 
whatever,  even  the  smooth  plea  of  charity,  ought 
to  urge  me  to  do  what  the  Saviour  has  not  com- 
manded in  keeping  the  Supper,  and  what  indeed 


ITS    DESIGN.  61 


the  Saviour  has  evidently  excluded  in  saying : 
"This  do  in  remembrance  of  me."  We  must 
not  rob  Christ  for  the  sake  of  pleasing  one  an- 
other. Our  Lord  has  provided  abundant  occa- 
sions, and  opportunities,  and  means,  for  express- 
ing and  freely  cultivating  our  tenderest  regards 
for  our  fellow-Christians,  without  marring  and 
perverting  the  Supper  Institution.  Some  think 
that  Judas  shared  the  Supper  with  the  eleven. 
Certainly  he  participated  in  the  Passover.  In 
this  participation  there  surely  was  no  intended 
pledge  of  spiritual  fellowship.  The  Saviour  did 
not  appoint  the  Supper  as  a  mode  of  expressing 
his  approbation  and  fellowship  for  those  who 
loved  him.  He  did  not  invite  the  seventy,  or  the 
hundred  and  twenty,  or  even  his  dear  mo- 
ther, to  thus  evince  their  communion  with  their 
fellow-disciples.  No ;  he  had  quite  another  pur- 
pose in  view,  as  we  have  before  stated.  He 
gave  the  Institution  to  his  churches  to  be  a 
church  institution,  memorial  and  promissory  of 
himself. 

16.  The  Supper  Institution,  when  properly 
observed  in  the  churches  of  Christ,  is  a  powerful 
conservator  of  Gospel  truth.  An  excellent  writer 
has  remarked  upon  the  Sabbath  :  "  This  truth, 
from  the  history  of  the  world,  will  bear  to  be  re- 
corded in  letters  of  gold,  that  the  true  religion 
6 


G2  THE    SUPPER    INSTITUTION. 


will  exist  among  men  only  when  they  strictly  ob- 
serve the  Sabbath."  We  might  add,  that  true 
Christianity,  spiritual  and  saving  religion,  will 
exist  best  in  those  churches  where  the  Supper 
Institution  is  clearly  apprehended  in  its  great  de- 
sigu  of  holding  up  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  is 
devoutly  observed  as  the  means  of  communing 
with  Him  and  not  with  one  another.  We  de- 
fend, then,  the  structure,  the  design,  and  the 
spiritual  character  of  the  Supper  in  view  of  the 
honor  of  Christ  and  the  purity  of  his  churches. 
The  holy  Institution  is  all  beautifully  set  with 
truths  and  doctrines,  with  facts  and  promises, 
with  mementos  and  pledges,  by  the  hands  of  the 
Redeemer.  And  let  nothing  else  be  intruded  to 
conceal  or  obscure  what  the  divine  hand  has  set 
in  order  and  made  sufficient  for  his  people.  It 
was  when  men  had  succeeded  in  changing  the  form 
and  application  of  the  initiatory  ordinance  of 
God's  house,  and  in  perverting  the  Supper  Insti- 
tution, that  they  were  enabled  to  corrupt  the  life 
of  the  churches.  Having  bribed  the  sentinel  at 
the  door,  and  having  poisoned  the  well  of  water 
within,  they  subverted  the  household  and  trans- 
formed the  church  of  the  living  God  into  a 
temple  filled  with  traffickers  and  the  idols  of 
their  superstitions.     When  the  walls  of  the  city 


ITS   DESIGN.  63 


are    thrown  down,  the  enemy  can    come    in    at 
pleasure. 

17.  Churches,  like  individuals,  have  a  body 
and  a  life ;  a  frame  and  a  spirit :  the  body 
must  be  in  health  that  the  soul  may  be  at 
ease ;  the  frame  must  be  perfect  that  the  spirit 
may  act  freely.  Indeed,  of  Christianity  in  the 
world,  it  may  be  said,  it  is  a  life,  dwelling 
in,  and  working  through,  a  body  of  doctrines 
and  a  frame  of  outward  duties ;  every  doctrine 
is  an  expression  of  the  divine  indwelling  life  ; 
every  duty  and  outward  observance  or  act 
of  obedience,  is  an  exercise  for  the  develop- 
ment, the  culture,  and  also  the  dissemination 
of  the  hidden,  heavenly  life.  Baptism  is  of 
no  avail  except  to  the  person  who  has  been 
born  again.  The  doctrines  of  grace,  to  the  un- 
renewed man,  are  more  unsuited  than  the  armor 
of  Saul  on  the  limbs  of  David  ;  if  put  upon 
an  unprepared  man,  they  prevent  proper  action. 
The  Supper  Institution  is  proper  only  for  a 
church,  and  is  properly  observed  only  when  it 
is  celebrated  with  a  view  of  refreshing  all  the 
members  of  the  church  by  bringing  Christ  into 
their  habitual  contemplation,  with  the  view 
of  holding  alike  the  ministry  and  the  member- 
ship, with  all  their  varying  gifts,  around  Christ 
as  the  centre  and  the  heart  of  the  body.     And 


G4 


THE   SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


as  every  church  should  represent  Christ  to 
tlic  world,  the  Supper  is  a  needed  church  Insti- 
tution, being  a  visible  representation  of  the 
world's  Redeemer,  and  an  epitomized  presenta- 
tion of  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  the  redemptive 
scheme. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

LIMITS   OP   THE   INSTITUTION. 

1.  Having  treated  of  the  origin,  the  structure, 
and  the  design  of  the  Supper  Institution,  we 
come  now  to  consider  its  limits.  This  is  not  an 
unimportant  division  of  our  subject.  Every  In- 
stitution must  necessarily  have  some  limits ;  its 
application  must  be  bounded.  If  it  be  stretched 
beyond  its  proper  and  appointed  boundaries  it 
loses  its  character  and  use,  and  will  sooner  or 
later  lose  even  its  structure,  and  consequently 
fail,  in  proportion  to  its  misappropriation,  to  ac- 
complish its  designed  results.  That  it  has  been 
stretched  beyond  its  lawful  limits,  we  shall  here- 
after have  occasion  to  show. 

2.  The  Passover,  which  the  Lord's  Supper 
historically  succeeds,  may,  at  least,  furnish  an 
analogy  in  the  limits  assigned  to  that  once  im- 
portant Institution.  The  Paschal  Supper  was 
committed  to  families,  as  families,  and  the 
Hebrews  were  strictly  forbidden  to  observe  it  in 
any  other  capacity.     They  were  commanded  to 

6*  (65) 


THE   SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


take  "a  lamb  for  a  house  ;"  and  it  was  added  : 
"  in  one  house  shall  it  be  eaten  ;  thou  shalt  not 
cany  forth  aught  of  the  flesh  abroad  out  of  the 
house."  The  design  of  this  order  is  evident.  The 
institution,  with  all  its  impressive  lessons,  was  thus 
brought  home  to  every  house  and  to  every  per- 
son. Had  it  been  observed  by  the  Israelites  in 
a  national  capacity,  or  by  the  several  tribes  in 
their  tribal  relations,  it  would  plainly  have  been 
less  definite  in  its  lessons,  and  far  less  impressive 
in  its  moral  character.  When  the  Lord  saved 
his  people  from  oppression  and  death  in  Egypt, 
he  chose,  for  his  own  glory  and  the  good  of  his 
people,  to  place  a  memorial  and  pledge  of  his 
mercy  and  protection,  in  every  house,  that  thus 
every  Jew  might  distinctly  feel  that  the  Lord 
was  his  God  and  that  He  cared  for  his  house  and 
for  the  members  of  his  family.  The  plan  of  the 
divine  interposition  and  the  institution  that  me- 
morialized '  it,  were  alike  marked  with  that  wis- 
dom and  mercy  which  belong  to  the  ways  of  God. 
He  that  set  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  in  fami- 
lies, gave  to  his  ancient  covenant  people  at  least 
one  family  institution,  that  in  the  primal,  and 
nearest  and  dearest  relations  of  life  they  might 
have  one  significant  memento  and  pledge  of 
divine  favor  and  protection.  So  every  house 
contained  an  altar  of  grace. 


ITS  LIMITS.  6T 


3.  Now,  very  much  as  the  Passover  was  com- 
mitted to  Jewish  families,  the  Supper  Institution 
is  committed  to  Christian  churches,  the  only  ap- 
pointed organizations  under  the  New  Dispensa- 
tion. It  seems  plain  that  the  Supper  was  given 
to  churches,  as  churches.  To  whom  else,  we  may 
inquire,  could  it  be  given  ?  Must  not  every  ordi- 
nance and  every  institution  be  put  into  the  hands 
of  some  specified  bodyor  organization?  Who 
ever  heard  of  an  ordinance  that  was  to  be  exe- 
cuted by  no  one  in  particular ;  that  was  given  to 
no  class  of  persons  to  be  administered  ?  What 
king  or  legislator  ever  acted  in  this  manner  ? 
And  who  ever  heard  of  an  institution  that  be- 
longed to  everybody  in  general,  and  nobody  in 
particular  ?  Every  institution  is  put  into  the 
hands  of  some  corporation  duly  organized  and 
fully  recognized  by  the  legislating  power.  But 
there  is  no  corporation  named  by  Christ  except 
churches.  The  New  Testament  knows  no  organi- 
zations but  "  companies  of  believers  called  out 
by  authority"  of  Christ,  that  is  churches.  Hence 
to  churches  was  committed  the  faith  and  order 
of  the  gospel — the  keeping  of  the  oracles  of 
God,  the  defeuse  of  the  faith,  the  ministry  of  the 
word,  the  ordaining  of  Christian  officers,  the  ad- 
ministration  of    baptism,  the   keeping   of   the 


68  THE    SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


Supper,  and  the  spread  of  the  gospel  through 
the  world. 

The  Saviour  instituted  the  Supper  with  the 
twelve,  and  committed  it,  as  we  have  seen,  to  their 
hands.  Now  they  were  the  first  church,  the  first  ec- 
clesia — "company  called  out  by  authority  ; " — they 
were  the  first  who  had  left  all  and  followed  him. 
The  other  disciples  "  were  added"  to  these,  and 
so  added  to  a  regular  church,  coming  under  re- 
gulations and  accepting  specified  duties.  So  the 
Supper  was  not  given  to  believers  promiscuously, 
but  to  an  organized  or  banded  company  of  be- 
lievers under  the  authority  of  Christ. 

True,  there  were  many  baptized  believers  in 
and  around  Jerusalem  at  this  time.  But,  in  this 
formative  period  of  the  church,  much  material 
had  to  be  prepared  and  made  all  ready  for  the 
house  before  the  house  was  erected.  Afterward 
the  pieces  were  added  to  the  building  as  fast  as 
they  were  made  ready.  The  Apostles  constituted 
the  frame  of  the  house  and  were  so  raised  ;  then, 
or  soon  after,  the  believers  around  them  were 
"added  unto  them."  And  only  those  that  were 
"  added,"  that  is,  only  members  of  the  ecclesza,  or 
company,  were  admitted  to  share  in  the  Supper 
Institution. 

And  so,  everywhere,  at  least,  so  far  as  we  can 
learn  from  the  New  Testament,  among  the  first 


ITS   LIMITS.  69 


churches  this  rule  was  followed,  of  holding  the 
Supper  Institution  as  a  church  institution,  and 
admitting  only  church  members  to  participate  in 
its  celebration.  The  Apostles  and  the  members 
of  other  churches,  when  with  any  of  the  churches, 
united  with  these  churches  in  observing  the  In- 
stitution, but  not  with  the  notion  of  communing 
with  men,  but  of  communing  with  Christ,  for 
the  Institution  had  not  yet  lost  its  spiritual  sig- 
nificance ;  and  yet  the  churches  held  the  Insti- 
tution in  their  own  keeping,  as  committed  to 
their  hands.  They  held  the  Supper  as  belong- 
ing not  to  churches  collectively,  and  not  to  min- 
isters separately  or  collectively;  but  always  to 
churches,  separately  and  singly,  as  the  families 
or  societies  of  Jesus. 

4.  Xeander,  in  his  ''Planting  and  Training 
of  the  Christian  Church,"  though  he  seems  not 
to  have  fully  grasped  the  idea  of  the  corporate 
character  and  independency  of  the  first  churches, 
has  some  remarks  that  bear  pertinently  on  the 
subject  in  hand.  He  says  :  "  The  form  of  the 
Christian  community,  and  of  the  public  Christian 
worship,  the  archetype  of  all  the  later  Christian 
Culfus,  arose  at  first,  without  any  preconceived 
plan,  from  the  peculiar  nature  of  the  higher  life 
that  belonged  to  all  true  Christians.  There  was, 
however,  this  difference,  that  the  first  Christian 


70  THE   SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


community  formed  as  it  were  one  family ;  the 
power  of  the  newly-awakened  feeling  of  Chris- 
tian fellowship,  the  feeling  of  the  common  grace 
of  redemption,  outweighed  all  other  personal  and 
public  feelings  ;  and  all  other  relations  were  sub- 
ordinated to  this  one  great  relation."*  All  felt 
bound  by  their  common  relation  to  Christ,  so 
that  Christ  was  their  Head  and  Heart.  He  also 
remarks  :  "  Whoever  acknowledged  Jesus  as  the 
Messiah,  received  him  consequently  as  the  infal- 
lible divine  prophet,  and  implicitly  submitted  to 
his  instructions  as  communicated  by  his  personal 
ministry,  and  afterward  by  his  inspired  organs, 
the  Apostles.  Hence  baptism,  at  this  period,  in 
its  peculiar  Christian  meaning,  referred  to  this 
one  article  of  faith,  which  constituted  the  essence 
of  Christianity,  as  baptism  into  Jesus,  into  the 
name  of  Jesus ;  it  was  the  holy  rite  which  sealed 
the  connection  with  Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  "f  He 
adds  :  "  The  celebration  of  the  Holy  Supper  con- 
tinued to  be  connected  with  the  common  meal,  in 
which  all  as  members  of  one  family  joined,  as 
in  the  primitive  Jewish  church,  and  agreeably  to 
its  first  institution.  "J 

And  in  his  "  Church  History,"  he  says  of  the 
celebration  of  the    Supper,  "ne  one  could  be 

*  "  Planting  and  Training  of  the  Christian  Church,"  p.  28. 
f  Ibid.  p.  27.  %  Ibid.  p.  103. 


ITS   LIMITS.  71 


present  who  was  not  a  member  of  the  Christian 
church,  and  incorporated  into  it  by  the  rite  of 
baptism."  *  *  *  "  These  celebratioDs, 
from  their  very  nature,  were  designed  only  for  the 
members  of  the  church."* 

The  intimation  of  Neander,  that  the  first 
churches  lacked  organic  character,  is  in  part 
true,  and  in  part,  we  are  compelled  to  think,  not 
wholly  true.  The  New  Testament  was  not  yet 
written  and  compiled.  All  things  were  done  by 
order  of  the  Apostles,  to  whom  Christ,  "  through 
the  Holy  Ghost,  had  given  commandment,"  and 
who  were,  therefore,  instructed  in  "the  things 
pertaining  to  the  kingdom  of  God."  They  pro- 
mulgated the  truths  and  established  the  laws 
that  they  had  received.  The  planting  of  the 
first  churches,  both  among  Jews  and  Gentiles, 
where  there  was  so  much  that  was  uncongenial 
and  even  diametrically  opposite  to  Christianity, 
required  an  easy  but  yet  a  definite  process.  The 
first  development  of  these  churches,  like  churches 
now  planted  among  the  heathen,  under  the  quick- 
ening influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  must  have 
been  free,  like  the  growth  of  a  family,  but  yet 
truly  organic,  and  according  to  pre-established 
laws. 

*  "  Planting  and  Training  of  the  Christian  Church,"  vol.  1, 
p.  327. 


72  THE   SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


And  even  the  New  Testament,  we  find  to  be  less 
a  book  of  statutes,  specifying  all  the  particulars, 
the  minutiae  of  church  organization  and  church 
duties,  than  of  general  principles  which,  under 
the  interpretation  of  the  Spirit,  who  is  in  every 
convert,  are  made  abundantly  to  supply  the  lack 
of  details.  When  men's  hearts  are  right  and 
their  motives  rise  out  of  a  pure  spirit,  as  is  sup- 
posed in  the  case  of  every  regenerate  soul,  they 
need  but  few  statutes  and  technical  rules :  they 
need  but  examples  and  hints,  if  these  only  come 
from  the  will  of  Christ :  they  do  indeed  need  a 
few  rules,  for  human  nature  is  not  a  fountain,  in 
itself,  of  law  and  light.  And  where  this  right 
disposition  of  heart  is  wanting,  as  in  the  case  of 
the-  unregenerate,  no  statutes  and  rules  would 
supply  the  defect.  In  the  Christian  scheme  the 
Holy  Spirit  disposes  Christians  to  accept  all 
truth  and  to  do  right,  and  the  New  Testament,, 
unlike  the  statute  books  of  men,  contains  only  a 
few  statutes  of  a  leading  character  and  makes  up 
the  rest  of  the  sum  of  duties  by  examples  and 
hints,  leaving,  of  necessity,  some  things  to  shape 
themselves  according  to  new  circumstances.  As 
the  entire  government  of  God  over  us  is  adapted 
to  moral  agents  in  a  state  of  probation,  long 
drawn,  particularizing  and  exhaustive  statutes, 
like  many  human  codes,  would  be  inappropriate 


ITS   LIMITS.  T3 


and  would  conflict  with  the  necessary  laws  of  our 
freedom  and  our  responsible  development.  Too 
much  government  would  crush,  rather  than  pro- 
mote, our  moral  growth. 

Every  church  is  organized  according  to  the 
given  laws  of  Christ  and  the  precedents  found  in 
the  New  Testament.  And  every  church  is  com- 
plete in  itself,  like  a  family,  and  is  perfectly 
independent,  having  no  corporate  or  organic 
connection  with  any  other  church,  or  any  other 
organization.  Under  the  laws  and  examples  of 
the  Xew  Testament,  a  church  is  competent  to 
transact  all  business  and  direct  all  its  efforts. 
All  its  officers  are  to  be  freely  chosen ;  and  these 
may  be  few  or  many,  as  the  magnitude  of  the 
church  and  its  duties  may  require.  They  are 
chosen  to  serve  the  church  and  to  preach  Christ 
to  the  world.  In  the  service  needed  in  the 
church,  the  public  teacher,  pastor,  or  bishop, 
will,  of  course,  administer  the  rites  of  the  church, 
will  administer  the  ordinance  of  baptism,  and,  as 
the  chosen  head  of  the  spiritual  family,  preside 
at  the  Supper.  Every  church  is  complete  in  it- 
self. In  the  absence  of  its  ordained  officers,  the 
body  may  still  act,  either  by  inviting  an  officer 
of  another  church  to  act  for  them,  or  by  deputing 
one  of  their  own  number.  So  there  can  be  a 
church  without  a  bishop,  as  there  can  be  a  state 
7 


74  THE   SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


without  a  king.  And  both  Baptism  and  the 
Supper  are  in  the  hands  of  churches.  In  short, 
every  church  is  competent  and  is  empowered  to 
present  the  gospel,  in  all  its  parts,  functions,  and 
powers,  to  the  world,  as  much  so  as  though  no 
other  church  existed  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 
Yet  each  church  should  act  toward  every  other 
church,  planted  on  the  same  divine  grounds,  ac- 
cording to  the  great  irreversible  moral  law : 
"  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  Then 
each  church,  in  its  completeness  and  independ- 
ency, will  know  no  jars  or  ill-will  with  other 
churches,  but  will  be  filled  with  responsibility, 
and  surrounded  with  perfect  freedom  to  exercise 
all  its  gifts  and  power,  in  honor  of  Christ  and 
for  the  world's  evangelization.  Would  that  such 
a  state  of  things  everywhere  existed  in  the 
churches  of  Christ !  Then  would  peace  be  re- 
stored, light  would  break  forth,  and  earth's  mil- 
lennial day  be  ushered  in. 

5.  Another  question  of  limit  arises.  Ought 
the  Supper  ever  to  be  carried  out  of  the  church 
assembly  to  accommodate  any  of  the  members  of 
the  church  ?  Not  only  in  ages  past  of  the  his- 
tory of  Christianity,  but  even  now,  in  many 
churches,  we  meet  with  a  practice  of  carrying  the 
Supper,  in  whole  or  in  part,  to  private  dwellings 
to  be  dispensed  to  the  sick  and  infirm.      This 


ITS   LIMITS.  ?5 


was  not  so  in  the  earliest  times.  After  carefully 
examining  this  question,  especially  after  consider- 
ing the  results  of  this  practice  in  the  views  which 
it  begets  of  the  Institution  itself,  we  are  disposed 
to  express  an  opinion  against  the  practice.  The 
idea  that  the  Supper  must  be  received  by  those 
who  cannot  come  into  the  church  assembly,  and 
the  consent  of  the  church  to  carry  the  Institution 
to  them,  naturally  favors,  if  it  does  not  directly 
engender,  the  dangerous  notion  of  sacramental 
efficacy.  Now,  if  from  sickness  or  extreme  infir- 
mity, one  is  not  able  to  submit  to  the  ordinance 
of  baptism,  he  is  exempted  from  its  obligations ; 
the  condition  of  an  individual  is  no  sufficient 
apology  for  changing  an  ordinance,  giving  it  an- 
other form  and  hence  another  force.  "  It  is  re- 
quired of  a  man  according  to  that  which  he 
hath,  and  not  according  to  that  which  he  hath 
not."  The  same  remark  may  be  applied  to  at- 
tendance on  public  divine  worship :  when  indi- 
viduals cannot  attend  they  are  not  required  to  be 
present ;  grace  shall  be  given  to  them  to  supply 
their  lack.  So  also  in  regard  to  the  Supper  ;  if 
any  cannot  come  into  the  church  assembly,  the 
Lord  will  bless  them  at  their  homes,  if  they 
truly  desire  his  presence ;  and  he  will,  by  the 
Spirit,  comfort  and  nourish  their  hearts.  There 
is  nothing  saving  in  Baptism  or  in  partaking  of 


76  THE    SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


the  Lord's  Supper.  They  are  only  means  of 
grace  to  the  regenerate,  appointed  for  such  as 
are  able  to  share  them.  If  the  Supper  has  been 
committed  to  the  church  to  be  celebrated  in  the 
church  assembly,  let  it  be  so  kept.  The  indi- 
vidual is  not  the  church,  any  more  than  a  single 
Jew  was  a  Hebrew  family. 

6.  But  it  is  the  duty  of  all  the  members  of  a 
church,  who  are  able  to  attend  the  public 
worship  of  the  church,  to  be  present  with 
the  church  in  the  observance  of  the  Supper 
Institution.  As  no  redeemed  soul  is  excused 
from  putting  on  Christ  before  the  world  by  bap- 
tism, where  circumstances  will  allow,  since  a  re- 
fusal to  obey  a  specific  command  is  evidence  of 
the  want  of  an  obedient  heart,  and  the  refusal 
strikes  at  the  organization  of  churches,  and  is, 
so  far,  a  subversive  blow  to  the  Kingdom  of  God 
among  men  ;  so  a  refusal  to  a'ssemble  with  Chris- 
tians, especially  with  the  church  to  which  we 
belong,  and  to  join  them,  in  obedience  to  Christ, 
in  celebrating  the  Supper  Institution,  evinces  a 
want  of  Christian  temper  or  Christian  knowledge. 
The  Saviour  has  issued  no  superfluous  commands. 
When  he  said  :  "  This  do  in  remembrance  of 
me,"  he  addressed  every  member  of  every  church 
that  has  the  ability  to  obey  him. 

7.  Our  conclusions  thus   far   are   these  :  the 


ITS   LIMITS.  11 


Supper  Institution  does  not  not  belong  to  syn- 
ods, or  councils,  or  presbyteries,  or  associations, 
or  consociations,  or  conventions,  or  priests,  or 
ministers,  or  private  individuals,  but  to  churches 
as  churches.  Hence  it  has  often  been  carried  be- 
yond its  legitimate  limits.  It  has  been  appropri- 
ated also  to  purposes  which  its  Founder  never 
contemplated. 

8.  This  brings  into  view  again  a  misapplica- 
tion and  serious  perversion  of  the  Institution 
touched  upon  when  speaking  of  its  design  ;  name- 
ly, its  appropriation  to  purposes  of  Christian  fel- 
lowship and  what  has  been  called  Christian  com- 
munion, that  is,  the  communion  of  Christians 
with  each  other  in  the  use  of  the  Supper.  Now 
it  is  evident  from  the  history  of  its  origin,  from 
the  study  of  its  structure,  from  its  design  as  ex- 
plained by  the  Saviour  and  understood  by  the 
Apostles,  as  also  from  the  separate  services 
named  and  the  symbols  employed,  that  the  Insti- 
tution is  limited  to  the  one  purpose  of  holding 
communion  with  Christ.  Its  plain  limits,  there- 
fore, utterly  exclude  the  idea  of  our  attempting  to 
commune  with  one  another  by  this  means.  By 
attaching  this  idea  to  the  Supper,  we  greatly  im- 
pair the  uniqueness,  and  lower  the  dignity,  and 
obscure  the  high  and  holy  purpose  of  the  Insti- 
1* 


THE   SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


tution.     And  certainly  we  have  no  right  to  add 
to  it  or  take  from  it. 

9.  What  says  Neander  of  the  ideas  belonging 
to  and  limiting  the  Institution  in  the  early 
churches  ?  "  Hence  Christ  said,  when  he  distri- 
buted wine  and  bread  among  his  disciples,  that 
this  bread  and  this  wine  were  to  be  to  them — 
and  consequently  to  all  the  faithful  of  all  times — 
his  body  and  his  blood  :  the  body  which  he 
offered  for  the  forgiveness  of  their  sins,  for  their 
salvation,  for  the  establishment  of  the  new  theo- 
cratic relation  ;  and  as  these  outward  symbols  re- 
presented to  them  his  body  and  his  blood,  so 
would  he  himself  be  hereafter  spiritually  present 
with  them,  just  as  truly  as  he  was  now  visibly 
among  them  ;  and  as  they  now  sensibly  partook 
of  these  corporeal  means  of  sustenance,  which 
represented  to  them  his  body  and  his  blood,  so 
should  they  receive  him,  the  Saviour,  present  in 
divine  power,  wholly  within  them  for  the  nourish- 
ment of  their  souls ;  they  should  spiritually  eat 
his  flesh  and  drink  his  blood,  (John  vi.)  should 
make  his  flesh  and  blood  their  own,  and  cause  their 
whole  nature  to  be  more  and  more  penetrated 
by  that  divine  principle  of  life  which  they  were 
to  receive  through  their  communion  with  him."* 


•&1 


*  Church  History,  vol.  1,  p.  324. 


ITS   LIMITS.  79 


These  remarks  of  the  great  historian  may  be 
regarded  as  a  beautiful  exposition  of  the  words 
of  Christ  to  his  disciples,  "This  do  in  remem- 
brance of  me  :"  meanwhile  they  delineate  the 
views  of  the  Supper  held  in  the  first  churches. 
All  ideas,  consequently,  of  creature  communion 
or  the  expression  of  Christian  regards,  by  means 
of  the  Supper,  are  out  of  place,  and  even  posi- 
tively injurious  to  the  unity  and  holy  design  of 
the  Institution. 

10.  The  unauthorized  appropriation  of  the 
Supper  of  which  we  have  been  speaking,  has 
sought  a  justification  in  the  current  use  and  com- 
mon acceptation  of  the  word  communion.  But 
here  the  evil  hides  behind  its  own  works ;  endea- 
vors to  justify  itself,  like  the  old  spirit  of  the 
Pharisees,  by  a  false  gloss  which  it  has  succeeded 
in  putting  upon  the  words  of  Scripture.  Hence 
we  object  to  the  use  of  the  term  Communion  for 
designating  the  Supper;  many  have  attached, 
and  still  hold,  a  wrong  idea  with  the  term.  It  is 
safer  to  designate  the  Institution  as  the  Lord's 
Supper.  The  word  "communion,"  as  applied  to 
the  Supper,  occurs  but  once  in  our  version  of  the 
New  Testament :  "  The  cup  of  blessing  which  we 
bless,  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the  blood  of 
Christ  ?  The  bread  which  we  break,  is  it  not 
the  communion  of  the  body  of  Christ  ?     For  we, 


80  THE   SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


being  many,  are  one  bread,  and  one  body;  for 
we  are  all  partakers  of  that  one  bread."  1  Cor. 
x.  16,  IT.  True,  this  word,  in  the  original,  is 
the  same  as  that  found  in  Acts  ii.  42 ;  1  John  i. 
3,  and  in  other  passages  (koinonia),  which  is 
there  translated  "  fellowship" — its  proper  mean- 
ing. This  would  have  been,  perhaps,  a  better 
translation  in  the  passage  quoted ;  and  Paul's 
argument  (verses  16-21,)  would  be  more  clear 
with  such  a  translation  ;  indeed,  in  verse  20,  the 
same  word  occurs  again,  where  our  translators 
have  rendered  it  "fellowship."  But  does  Paul's 
argument  favor  the  particular  idea  of  fellowship 
or  communion  against  which  we  have  protested  ? 
His  argument  is  thus  succinctly  and  truly  stated 
by  Olshausen :  "  As,  confessedly,  the  partaking 
of  the  holy  Supper,  is  a  means  of  fellowship 
with  Christ;  and  that  of  the  Jewish  sacrificial 
feast  of  fellowship  with  the  altar,  and  with  him 
to  whom  the  altar  is  dedicated,  that  is,  God ;  so 
do  the  heathen  sacrifices  form  a  fellowship  with 
devils."  There  is  indeed  a  fellowship,  a  peculiar 
and  glorious  fellowship  in  the  body,  the  church, 
but  it  is  derived  from  the  communion  or  fellowship 
of  each  member  with  Christ,  the  Head  and  Life. 
Of  this  fellowship,  mentioned  in  verse  11,  Ols- 
hausen thus  pertinently  speaks:  "As  all  who 
constitute  the  church  eat  of  one  and  the  same 


ITS   LIMITS.  81 


bread,  so  this  common  participation  converts 
their  plurality  into  a  higher  unity,  a  'body  of 
Christ,'  in  a  comprehensive  sense,  so  that  the 
church  itself  may  be  called  Christ  (xii.  12)."  The 
participation,  therefore,  or  the  fellowship,  we 
see,  is  with  Christ;  and  with  one  another  in 
no  other  sense  than  through  Christ;  not  directly 
with  one  another.  This  last  fellowship  is  not 
an  object  directly  sought,  or  even  had  particu- 
larly in  mind,  but  is  one  of  the  reflex  influences 
of  the  direct  and  sought  fellowship  with  Christ. 
We  will  only  add  the  remark  of  Christian  Knapp 
on  this  passage.  "  It  denotes  the  profession 
which  Christians  make,  by  partaking  in  common, 
of  their  interest  in  Christ,  of  the  saving  efficacy 
of  his  death  for  them,  and  their  own  actual  en- 
joyment of  its  consequences."* 

11.  Since  then  this  institution  is  not  a  Fellow- 
ship Supper,  or  Communion  Feast,  for  the  ex- 
pression of  our  charity  and  affection  for  one  an- 
other, but  the  Lord's  Supper,  in  which  we  are  to 
remember  and  hold  spiritual  communion  or  fel- 
lowship with  Him,  we  might  reply  to  those  who 
style  our  views  and  taunt  our  practice  as  "  close 
communion,"  in  the  language  of  Paul  to  the  Co- 
rinthians, who   had,  by  connecting  the  Supper 

*  Theology  :  Book  ii.,  Part  ii.,  Art.  xiv.,  Chap.  ii. 


82  THE    SUFFER   INSTITUTION. 


with  their  Agapae  or  Love  Feasts,  changed  the 
holy  Institution  in  great  part  into  a  convivial 
celebration :  "  What !  have  you  not  houses  to 
eat  and  to  drink  in  ?  Or,  despise  ye  the  church 
of  God  and  shame  them  that  have  not  ?"  Have 
ye  not  other  places  and  other  modes  of  express- 
ing your  fraternal  regards  ?  Must  the  church  of 
God  and  the  body  of  Christ  be  lowered  down 
to  the  purposes  of  mere  human  fellowship  ? 
Must  we  transform  the  emblems  of  Christ's 
body  and  blood  into  mere  tokens  of  our  esteem 
for  one  another  ?  "  What  shall  I  say  to  you  ? 
Shall  I  praise  you  in  this  ?  I  praise  you  not. 
When  you  come  together,  therefore,  into  one 
place,  this  is  not  to  eat  the  Lord's  Supper;"  but 
to  eat  and  drink  to  one  another,  to  eat  your  own 
fellowship  supper. 

12.  Again  ;  some  plead  for  extending  the  privi- 
leges of  the  Supper  Institution  to  those  who  have 
never  united  with  a  church,  have  never  put  on 
Christ  before  men  according  to  the  solemn  initia- 
tory ordinance  appointed  by  the  Redeemer.  They 
tell  us,  "  This  is  the  Lord's  Table,  and  hence  all 
his  children  should  be  permitted  to  partake  of 
it."  Such  have  forgotten  that  the  Lord  did  not, 
when  instituting  the  Supper,  invite  all  his  chil- 
dren to  partake  of  it.  The  Lord  spreads  his 
table  in  his  house.     Then  let  his  children  enter 


ITS   LIMITS.  83 


the  bouse  and  identify  themselves  with  the  family. 
As  no  uncircumcised  person  could  eat  of  the 
Passover,  so  no  unbaptized  person  may  come  to 
the  Institution  which  Jesus  has  established  for 
the  nourishment  of  his  churches.  Because  it  is 
the  Lord's  Table,  we  keep  it  in  the  place  and  for 
the  purposes  commanded  by  the  Lord.  Were  it 
our  table,  we  might  invite  all  our  neighbors  and 
fellow-citizens  to  share  it  with  us. 

13.  By  his  wisdom  and  authority  has  not  God 
set  us  as  families  in  the  earth  ?  Is  not  every  family 
perfect  and  independent,  as  a  body,  according  to 
a  law  of  Heaven  ?  However  much  we  may  regard 
each  other  as  members  of  the  great  human  brother- 
hood— and  no  one  will  deny  that  we  ought  to 
love  and  cherish  each  other  by  many  fraternal 
acts — ought  we  therefore  to  disregard  the  inde- 
pendency and  the  corporate  integrity  of  families  ? 
And  are  there  not  certain  rights,  privileges, 
and  duties  that  God  has  set  in  families,  and 
confined  in  families  alone  ?  Because  we  are 
families,  must  it  be  supposed  that  we  are  aliens 
and  enemies  to  one  another,  or  that  we  are 
uncharitable,  narrow  and  bigoted  ?  This  great 
law  of  God,  by  which  we  are  set  in  complete 
and  independent  families,  each  enjoying  and 
holding  certain  rights  and  privileges  as  sacred 
and  untransferable,  and  all  holding  the  same — is 


84  THE   SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


it  not  the  very  and  only  order  by  which  purity, 
concord,  and  prosperity  are  promoted?  No- 
thing is  more  evident.  Communism  and  the 
theory  of  Free  Love,  which  have  boasted  so 
much  good  in  words,  and  achieved  so  much 
shame  in  practice,  may  not  supplant  the  old 
divine  order  of  families.  The  open  communion 
doctrine  applied  to  families  has  not  borne  such 
fruits  as  commend  the  practice  to  general  adop- 
tion. If  we  would  preserve  the  best  interests  of 
society  and  the  world,  we  must  preserve  the 
family  relations  intact,  and  order  them  all  accord- 
ing to  the  laws  of  God. 

14.  In  a  way  quite  analogous  to  this,  and 
with  no  less  wisdom,  mercy,  and  authority,  has 
God  ordered  things  in  his  spiritual  kingdom 
among  men.  Christians  are  to  be  set  in 
churches.  Each  church  is  complete  in  itself 
and  invested  with  inalienable  rights,  privileges, 
and  duties.  As  no  one  could  enter  a  Jewish 
family  and  partake  of  the  Passover  except  he 
had  been  circumcised,  so  no  one  can  lawfully 
enter  a  church  and  partake  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per except  he  be  baptized.  While,  as  in  fami- 
lies, there  should  be  no  surrender  of  rights, 
and  no  interchange  of  prerogatives,  there  should 
be,  and,  where  the  proper  spirit  prevails,  there 
will  be,  exhibitions   of  courtesy  and   love,  and 


ITS   LIMITS.  85 


the  ready  discharge  of  numerous  fraternal  offices. 
The  maintenance  of  our  rights  is  never  inconsist- 
ent with  the  exercise  of  the  tenderest  brotherly 
regard.  Each  church  may  be  called  a  bride  of 
Christ ;  and  with  this  relation  in  view,  we  may 
say  the  fellowship  is  to  be  shared  alone ; 
others  may  not  intrude  themselves  into  God's 
house,  as  invested  with  rights  and  privileges. 
No  unbaptized  person  can  be  a  member  of 
the  church ;  only  members  of  the  church  are 
to  enjoy  the  privilege  of  the  Supper  Insti- 
tution. 

15.  Correct  views  of  churches,  their  struc- 
ture, their  powers,  their  prerogatives,  their 
limits,  their  independency,  and  their  duties,  are 
of  vital  consequence  to  all  who  would  share 
the  blessings  of  the  gospel  and  be  laborers 
together  with  Christ,  in  spreading  his  king- 
dom among  men.  Such  views  would  imme- 
diately remove  many  unhappy  misconceptions 
and  misunderstandings  among  the  people  of 
God  of  every  name.  Then  would  be  appre- 
hended the  proper  limits  of  the  Supper  Institu- 
tion, as  also  its  proper  design  and  its  intended 
benefits.  In  maintaining  the  completeness  and 
the  rights  of  churches,  Christian  charity,  and 
the  duties  of  Christian  reciprocity  and  courtesy, 
would  receive  no  injury  but  would  thereby  be 
8 


86 


THE    SUPPER    INSTITUTION'. 


greatly  extended  and  strengthened.  And  then 
over  the  Lord's  Table,  in  each  chnrch,  we  might 
hope  to  see  the  inscription  in  large  and  golden 
letters,  as  if  written  by  the  hand  of  the  Saviour, 
the  words  which  he  gave  us  in  reference  to 
the  holy  Institution :  "This  do  in  remembrauce 
of  me." 


CHAPTER  V. 

ABUSES   OF   THE   INSTITUTION. 

1.  That  the  Christian  scheme,  whether  taken 
as  a  whole  or  in  its  parts,  whether  viewed  in  its 
doctrines  or  its  development,  whether  considered 
in  its  rites  or  its  devotional  acts,  should  have 
been,  by  many,  misunderstood,  perverted  and 
abused,  is  what  might  have  been  expected,  and 
was  distinctly  foretold.  This  scheme  originated 
in  heaven,  and  is  unlike  any  thing  that  was 
familiar  to  men.  It  necessarily  takes  on  some- 
thing of  a  visible  form  and  order,  but  is  in  essence 
a  spiritual  life,  a  kingdom  set  up  in  the  hearts  of 
men.  And  being  not  only  a  spiritual,  but  a  holy 
kingdom,  it  is  not,  and  cannot  be,  apprehended  by 
men  while  in  a  state  of  nature.  To  be  under- 
stood, it  must  not  only  be  revealed  to  men,  but 
must  be  revealed  in  men  :  man's  depraved  heart 
and  blinded  mind  cannot  perceive  it.  By  unre- 
newed men,  every  thing  is  looked  upon  in  a 
worldly  light,  and  is  understood  according  to  the 

(87) 


88  TIIK    SUPPER    INSTITUTION. 


tastes  and  desires  of  a  carnal  nature.  Hence 
the  churches  of  Christ,  which  are  spiritual  or- 
ganizations, though  they  must  have  a  visible 
form,  have  been  contemplated  as  only  certain 
new  forms  of  society,  for  the  production  of  hu- 
man happiness,  and  the  advancement  of  certain 
classes  of  doctrines  and  principles.  Viewed  in 
this  worldly  light,  forms  of  belief,  or  creeds, 
have  been  mistaken  for  true  faith  in  the  soul ; 
the  outward  ceremony  of  baptism  has  been  ac- 
cepted for  that  purification  and  new  life  which 
the  ordinance  only  symbolizes ;  and  the  Supper 
Institution  has  been  either  interpreted  as  a 
service,  indicating  our  fellowship  with  each 
other,  or  as  a  supernatural  means  of  imparting 
to  man  that  grace  of  salvation  which  we  feel 
that  we  need.  Hence  men  have  ever  been  dis- 
posed to  fashion  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth 
after  the  most  approved  patterns  of  earthly 
kingdoms,  and  to  construct  churches  after  their 
favorite  ideals  of  civil  communities.  This  ten- 
dency to  corrupt  Christianity  began  at  a  very 
early  age,  even  before  the  Apostles  had  ceased 
from  their  labors. 

2.  The  first  gross  abuse  of  the  Supper  Institu- 
tion of  which  we  have  a  record,  was  in  the  church 
at  Corinth,  and  is  mentioned  in  1  Cor.  xi.  20-34. 
This  case,  as  far  as  can  now  be  ascertained,  was 


ITS   ABUSES.  89 


something  like  the  following ;  the  members  of 
this  church,  after  a  prevailing  custom  of  the  times, 
by  which  persons  of  the  same  guild  or  profession 
met  for  professional  and  social  entertainments, 
assembled  frequently  for  social  intercourse,  and 
the  enlargement  and  strengthening  of  their  bond 
of  union.  These  meetings  and  entertainments 
were  termed  Agapae,  or  Love  Feasts.  At  the 
close  of  these  entertainments  the  church  was  ac- 
customed to  celebrate  the  Lord's  Supper.  This 
custom  existed  generally  among  the  first  churches, 
and  continued,  as  historians  tell  us,  for  a  long 
period,  until  abuses  of  the  original  design  crept 
in,  and  led,  first,  to  the  separation  of  the  Supper 
from  the  Feasts,  and  finally,  to  the  abolition  of 
the  Feasts  themselves.  Christian  Knapp  thinks 
it  was  customary  for  the  more  wealthy  members 
of  the  church  to  bring  the  food  and  drink  neces- 
sary for  these  Agapae  ;  and  that  from  what  re- 
mained after  the  Feast,  the  church  celebrated  the 
Lord's  Supper.  If  such  were  the  custom,  we  can 
readily  imagine  how,  from  the  natural  tendency 
of  feasts,  from  the  unavoidable  vein  of  vanity  and 
extravagance  incident  to  their  preparation,  in 
such  a  rich,  luxurious,  and  intemperate  city  as 
Corinth,  certain  indulgences  and  extremes  would 
soon  obtrude  themselves,  and  lead  to  the  state  of 
things  deplored  by  the  Apostle.  It  appears  that 
8* 


90  THE    SUrPElt    INSTITUTION. 


the  convivial  element  had  so  far  obtruded  itself 
into  the  Lord's  Supper,  as  nearly  to  destroy  the 
Christian  and  spiritual  character  of  the  Divine 
Institution.  This  abuse  should  be  a  warning 
against  associating  with  the  Supper  practices  and 
ideas  that  do  not  belong  to  it. 

In  respect  to  these  Agapae,  it  may  be  remarked 
that  they  were  not  commanded  by  any  Christian 
authority ;  they  were  of  a  voluntary  character, 
and  were  copied  from  a  social  usage  of  the  times. 
Of  course  they  were  of  an  innocent  character, 
while  kept  within  the  limits  of  prudence  and 
sobriety ;  and  under  proper  conduct,  might  con- 
duce to  pleasant  and  beneficial  ends.  Some  think 
that  reference  is  made  to  this  kind  of  entertain- 
ments in  Acts  xi.  46  :  "  And  they  continued  daily 
with  one  accord  in  the  temple,  and  breaking  bread 
from  house  to  house,  did  eat  their  meat  with 
gladness  of  heart,  praising  God  and  having  favor 
with  all  the  people  ;"  furthermore,  certain  ones 
"sold  their  possessions  and  goods,  and  parted 
them  to  all,  as  every  man  had  need."  These 
Agapae  are  undoubtedly  referred  to  by  Jude,  when 
he  says :  "  These  are  spots  in  your  feasts  of  charity, 
when  they  feast  with  you."  v.  12.  A  similar 
allusion  is  made  by  Peter  :  "  Spots  they  are  and 
blemishes,   sporting  themselves  with  their  own 


ITS   ABUSES.  91 


dcceivings,  while  they  feast  with  you."   2  Eph. 
ii.  13. 

3.  The  second  great  abuse  of  the  Supper 
Institution  that  crept  into  the  churches,  was  that 
by  which  the  elements  were  supposed  to  be  in- 
vested with  a  supernatural  character.  The  pro- 
cess by  which  this  great  error  secured  its  foothold 
in  the  churches,  was  slow.  The  error  was  a  con- 
sequence of  an  opinion  that  prevailed  every- 
where around  the  churches.  From  the  beginning 
of  history,  men  had  been  familiar  with  the  idea 
of  sacrifices.  Thus  the  world  was  prepared  to 
accept  the  idea  of  the  sacrifice  of  Christ.  No 
religion  was  estimated  as  having  efficacy  that  did 
not  employ  sacrifices.  But  the  gospel  demanded 
no  sacrifices  of  the  people  ;  it  pointed  all  men  to 
the  one  great,  efficacious,  final  sacrifice  that  had 
been  offered  on  Calvary.  The  first  Christians 
held  the  Supper  simply  as  commemorative  of 
this  sacrifice.  Now  it  was  objected  to  Chris- 
tians, especially  by  the  heathen,  that  they  had  no 
sacrifices  in  their  worship  :  to  which  it  was  replied 
that  they  had  an  Institution  which  to  them  an- 
swered the  same  purpose,  as  it  brought  before 
their  minds  the  one  eflectuaP  sacrifice  that  had 
been  offered  for  all  men.  But  by  degrees,  as  the 
spiritual  life  grew  feeble,  and  the  desire  to  con- 
ciliate the  enemies  of  the  cross  sprung  up,  some 


92  THE    SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


Christians  "became  accustomed  to  regard  the 
Supper,  not  merely  as  a  festival  in  memory  of 
the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  but  as  an  actual  repetition 
of  this  sacrifice."  The  words  of  Christ,  instead 
of  being  accepted  in  their  deep,  and  deeply  im- 
portant spiritual  meaning,  were  accepted  in  a 
literal  sense  !  "Except  ye  eat  my  flesh  and  drink 
my  blood,  ye  have  no  life  in  you."  These  words 
were  applied  to  the  Supper  Institution,  and  the 
Supper  was  brought  over  to  the  worldly  and 
heathen  stand-point  of  a  sacrificial  Institution. 
Henceforth,  the  grossest  errors  found  a  ready  en- 
trance into  the  bosom  of  the  church. 

Says  Irenaeus  !  "  The  idea  of  a  sacrifice  in  the 
Supper  of  the  Lord,  was  at  first  barely  symbolical ; 
and  originally  this  idea  did  not  even  have  refer- 
ence to  the  sacrifice  of  Christ.  The  only  thing 
originally  had  in  view,  was  the  spiritual  thank- 
offering  of  the  Christians,  of  which  the  presenta- 
tion of  the  bread  and  wine,  the  first  fruits  of 
nature's  gifts,  served  as  a  symbol !  while  no  doubt 
the  consciousness  of  the  new  relation  to  God,  in 
which  the  redeemed  were  placed  by  the  sufferings 
of  Christ,  lay  at  the  base  of  the  whole  transac- 
tion." 

"Afterward,"  says  Neander,  "the  reference 
to  the  death  of  Christ  was  made  more  prominent, 
yet  so  that  it  still  continued  to  be  no  more  than 


ITS   ABUSES.  93 


the  idea  of  a  commemorative,  symbolical  repre- 
sentation of  this  sacrifice.  But,  as  one  error  be- 
gets another,  it  was  quite  natural  that  the  false 
notion  of  a  particular  priesthood  in  the  Christian 
church,  corresponding  to  that  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, should  give  birth  to  the  erroneous  notion 
of  a  sacrificial  worship,  which  should  stand  in  the 
same  relation  of  correspondence  to  that  of  the 
Old  Testament ;  and  so  it  came  about  that  the 
whole  idea  of  sacrifice  in  the  Lord's  Supper, 
which  in  the  first  instance  was  simply  symbolical, 
took  a  direction  altogether  wide  of  its  true  im- 
port and  bearing,  toward  the  magical."  It  is 
necessary  to  add,  that  these  views  first  appeared 
through  Cyprian,  in  the  church  in  North  Africa. 
Hence  Neander  continues  :  "  As  the  church  in 
North  Africa  was  the  first  to  bring  prominently 
into  notice  the  necessity  of  infant  baptism,  so,  in 
connection  with  this,  they  introduced  also  the 
communion  of  infants ;  for  as  they  neglected  to 
distinguish  with  sufficient  clearness  between  the 
sign  and  the  divine  thing  which  it  signified,  and 
as  they  understood  all  that  is  said  in  the  sixth 
chapter  of  John's  Gospel,  concerning  the  eating 
the  flesh  and  drinking  the  blood  of  Christ  to  refer 
to  the  outward  participation  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
they  concluded  that  this,  from  the  very  first,  was 
absolutely  necessary  to  salvation."     And,  as  "the 


94  THE    SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


false  element  once  existing  in  the  germ,  it  soon 
unfolds  and  spreads,  unless  repressed  by  a 
mightier . reaction  of  the  sense  of  truth,"  and  as 
no  such  reaction  of  general  prevalence  occurred, 
the  false  element  pervaded  the  major  part  of  the 
Christian  world,  and  drew  into  its  fellowship  a 
multitude  of  kindred  destroying  elements. 

4.  In  the  progress  of  this  spiritual  declension, 
"the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper  became 
the  seal  of  all  religious  consecration  ;  it  was 
thus  used  at  the  conclusion  of  a  marriage,  and  at 
the  solemnities  in  commemoration  of  the  dead." 
To  what  debasing  extremes  the  Romish  Church, 
following  this  false  and  superstitious  bent,  has 
carried  the  Lord's  Supper,  making  it  wholly 
something  else,  in  reciting  masses  for  the  dead, 
we  need  not  now  stop  to  rehearse.  In  propor- 
tion as  the  true  inner  life  in  the  churches  became 
feeble,  there  was  a  tendency  toward  the  doctrines 
and  practices  of  heathenism  ;  true  doctrines  were 
overborne  by  errors ;  the  ordinances  of  the  gos- 
pel were  supplanted  by  Pagan  rites ;  and  the 
body,  deserted  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  was  brought 
into  captivity  to  hierarchal  assumptions,  and 
ruled  by  popes.  As  a  legitimate  consequence, 
outward  ceremonial  acts  were  exalted  and  relied 
upon  as  efficacious  to  salvation. 

5.  With  the  rise  and  dominancy  of  the  Papal 


ITS   ABUSES.  95 


Power,  carrying  out  its  great  central  idea  that  it 
held  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth, 
there  arose,  by  necessity,  the  notion  that  the  re- 
ligious life  to  be  imparted  to  the  world  dwelt  in 
the  hierarchal  church  as  in  a  mother ;  that  the 
saved  were  to  be  the  offspring  of  the  Church. 
Iustead  of  the  true  gospel  doctrine  that  each  re- 
deemed soul  draws  his  life  directly  from  Christ 
through  the  inward  working  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
in  the  use  of  divine  truth,  the  carnal  and  destruc- 
tive notion  obtained  that  men  were  to  receive 
salvation  from  the  Church  by  baptism,  by  vows, 
by  confession,  by  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  by  trib- 
ute. To  make  sure  her  supremacy,  to  vindicate 
her  Catholic  claim,  and  to  draw  all  men  to  her 
bosom,  the  Papal  church  assumed  the  power  of 
imparting  life  by  the  sacraments  ;  she  taught 
baptismal  regeneration,  and  asserted  that  masses 
availed  even  for  the  dead.  To  be  saved,  then, 
men  must  be  baptized  into  her  bosom,  and  par- 
take of  those  elements  which  in  her  hands  were 
transubstantiated  iuto  the  very  body  and  blood 
of  Christ.  And  as  Church  and  State  were 
united,  or  more  properly  the  State  was  included 
in  the  Church,  to  be  a  member  of  the  one  was  to 
be  a  member  of  the  other.  So  all  power  was 
consolidated  in  the  Church.    Thus  was  completed 


96  THE   SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


the  corruption,  the  tyranny  and  blasphemy  of  the 
Papal  Power. 

In  this  sad  condition,  with  here  and  there,  in 
secluded  spots,  a  few  candlesticks  burning  with  the 
original  fire,  things  remained  through  the  Dark 
Ages.  Finally,  through  the  sovereign  mercy  of 
God,  the  fires  of  the  Reformation  were  kindled 
in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries.  But 
even  in  that  great  spiritual  and  intellectual  up- 
heaval, many  of  the  abuses  that  had  crushed  the 
Supper  Institution,  still  adhered  to  the  partially 
emancipated  portions  of  Christendom.  The  Re- 
formed Churches  were  not  utterly  renovated ; 
the  old  leaven  was  not  thoroughly  purged  out. 
Hence  some  of  the  Protestant  Churches  of  the 
present  day  have  more  or  less  of  the  old,  false 
notions  and  abuses  of  the  Papal  Church. 

6.  The  National  Churches  and  great  ecclesias- 
tical establishments  now  existing,  have  inherited 
many  of  their  views  and  practices  from  the 
Romish  Church.  The  great  test  of  membership 
with  the  Lutheran  Church  is  "  communion  with 
that  Church"  or  participancy  in  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per. So  is  it  with  the  Greek  Church.  So  is  it 
with  the  Abyssinian  Church.  The  same  is  true 
of  the  Church  of  England.  In  these  churches  it 
is  required  to  be  sprinkled  in  infancy — but  the 
Greek  Church  has  always  maintained  immersion 


ITS   ABUSES.  97 


for  baptism — to  assent  in  mature  years  to  the 
Articles  of  Faith  and  the  Laws  of  Church 
Government,  and  then  to  "commune  with  the 
Church."  Experimental  religion  may  indeed  co- 
exist with  these  requisitions,  but  it  is  not  insisted 
upon  as  a  qualification  for  church  membership ; 
indeed,  spiritual  religion  seems  to  be  very  imper- 
fectly understood  in  these  establishments. 

As  baptism  was  first  raised  by  the  Papal 
Power  to  the  rank  of  a  saving  or  regenerating 
ordinance,  and  then  changed  in  form,  to  adapt  it 
to  the  cases  of  sick  persons  and  infants,  so  in 
like  manner  the  Lord's  Supper  was  exalted  to  a 
sacrificial  rank,  and  then  changed  in  its  mode  of 
administration  to  meet  the  cases  of  clinics  and 
little  children.  Modern  establishments,  calling 
themselves  Protestant,  have  indeed  thrown  off 
some  of  the  grosser  corruptions  of  Rome,  but 
they  still  cling  to  many  things  that  do  not  be- 
long to  the  New  Testament  churches.  They 
hold  the  Supper  Institution  with  many  Romish 
dogmas  and  perversions. 

7.  The  long-existing,  unlawful  connection  of 
Church  and  State  has  exerted  a  mighty  power 
in  procuring  and  perpetuating  some  of  the  abuses 
of  the  Supper  Institution.  By  this  means  the 
holy  spiritual  Church  Institution  was  transformed 
into  a  religio-political  act  and  requisition ;  and 
9 


98  THE   SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


as  such  it  has  come  down  to  our  times.  Every 
member  of  the  State  must  be  a  member  of  the 
Church.  And  as  the  State  found  it  inconvenient, 
if  not  impracticable,  to  fix  upon  other  tests  by 
which  to  determine  who  were  members  of  the 
Church,  it  adopted  the  rule  of  regarding  as 
members  such,  and  only  such,  as  "communed 
with  the  Church." 

And  to-day,  in  most  parts  of  Europe,  no  man 
can  hold  a  civil  office  who  does  not,  as  they  term 
it,  commune  with  the  National  Church.  "In 
Sweden,"  says  Dr.  Baird,  "a  man  cannot  give 
his  testimony  in  a  court  of  justice  who  has  not 
taken  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  within 
the  year  immediately  preceding."  Until  a  few 
years  since  no  person  could  hold  an  office  in 
England,  or  be  a  member  of  Parliament,  or  even 
graduate  at  a  university,  unless  he  communed 
with  the  Episcopal  Church  at  least  once  a  year. 
To  detail  the  evils  of  such  a  state  of  things  to 
Church  and  State,  to  public  and  to  private  mor- 
als, is  unnecessary. 

8.  In  the  early  history  of  this  country,  and 
until  within  less  than  a  hundred  years,  in  Massa- 
chusetts, in  Connecticut,  and  in  some  other  of  the 
Colonies,  only  members  of  the  Churches  could  be 
electors  or  hold  civil  offices ;  and  the  fact  of 


ITS   ABUSES.  99 


church  membership  was  determined  by  the  fact 
of  their  communing  with  the  Churches. 

9.  And  yet  another,  and  if  possible,  a  more 
unhappy  abuse  of  the  Supper  obtained  among 
the  colonists.  Gradually  the  opinion  obtained, 
which  among  the  first  colonists  had  been  re- 
garded as  a  Romish  heresy,  that  the  Supper  was 
a  means  of  conversion  or  spiritual  renovation. 
Finally,  the  Rev.  Solomon  Stoddard,  grandfather 
of  Jonathan  Edwards,  boldly  asserted  that  a 
man  sometimes  "may,  and  ought  to,  come  to  the 
Lord's  Supper,  who  knows  himself  to  be  in  a 
natural  state,"  and  that  the  Supper  "is  instituted 
to  be  a  means  of  regeneration."  This  doctrine 
was  first  an  offspring,  and  then  a  defense  of  the 
old  Half-way  Covenant  which,  was  the  offspring 
of  infant-sprinkling.  And  this  Half-way  Cove- 
nant was  the  source  of  a  multitude  of  errors  and 
corruptions  in  New  England.  The  Rev.  Solo- 
mon Williams,  one  of  its  defenders,  who  at- 
tempted to  break  a  lance  with  Jonathan  Ed- 
wards, but  had  his  weapons  turned  back  upon 
himself,  asserted  that  there  were  two  ends  con- 
templated by  Christ  in  appointing  the  Supper ; 
viz.,  "That  such  as  have  grace  already,  should 
be  under  proper  advantages  to  gain  more  ;  and 
that  those  who  have  none,  should  be  under 
proper    advantages   to    obtain    grace."     These 


100  THE    SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


views  were  crowding  spiritual  life  out  of  the 
churches,  and  excluding  experimental  religion 
from  our  land,  when  the  Lord  interposed,  and 
pouring  out  his  Spirit  in  a  most  wonderful  man- 
ner,  rescued  our  fathers  from  their  errors,  and 
inaugurated  a  new  era  for  his  people  in  this 
country.  This  interposition  we  look  back  upon 
with  devout  gratitude,  and  call  it  The  Great  Re- 
vival, or  Awakening. 

10.  The  Presbyterian  and  Congregational 
Churches  in  this  country  are  now  nearly,  or 
quite,  purged  of  the  old  Stoddardian  leaven ; 
though  a  natural  opening  remains  for  the  infu- 
sion of  the  old  leaven  ;  viz.,  infant-sprinkling. 
The  higher  life,  the  pure  spiritual  element  in 
these  churches,  will,  we  trust,  forbid  the  re-en- 
trance of  the  old  error,  till,  finally,  the  door  of 
the  churches,  as  appointed  by  Christ,  shall  be 
again  set  up;  viz.,  the  baptism  of  believers  only, 
and  so  the  corrupting  heresy  be  effectually  ex- 
cluded forever. 

11.  Yet  these  Churches,  together  with  Epis- 
copalians and  Methodists,  still  cling  to  one  old 
error,  and  a  sad  abuse  of  the  Supper  Institution, 
regarding  it  as  a  method  and  means  of  commun- 
ing with  one  another,  of  exhibiting  their  fellow- 
ship for  each  other,  of  proving  their  fraternal 
and  Christian  regards   for   individuals   and  for 


ITS   ABUSES.  101 


churches.  So  they  celebrate  the  Supper  in  their 
churches,  taking  special  pains  to  invite  and  urge 
the  members  of  other  churches  and  denomina- 
tions to  "  commune  with  them,"  and  regarding 
themselves  as  slighted  and  their  Christian  char- 
acters doubted,  if  not  impeached,  if  any  neglect 
their  invitation,  though  the  neglect  may  arise 
from  conscientious  convictions,  that  the  Supper 
is  strictly  a  Church  Institution  and  given  only 
as  a  means  of  communing  in  spirit  with  Christ, 
and  not  with  one  another.  They  also  celebrate 
the  Supper  in  their  general  gatherings,  their  Con- 
sociations, Conferences,  Diocesan  Assemblies, 
Missionary  Conventions,  and  Evangelical  Alli- 
ances, thus  practically  asserting  that  the  Supper 
Institution  does  not  belong  to  single  churches, 
but  is  the  common  property  of  professed  Chris- 
tians, and  a  means  of  pledging  to  one  another 
their  Christian  esteem  and  affection. 

12.  This  use  of  the  Supper,  and  these  ideas 
of  communing  with  churches  and  with  individuals, 
are  no  small  abuses ;  they  divert  the  Institution 
from  its  original  design ;  they  seriously  impair 
its  spiritual  character ;  they  necessarily  leave  in 
the  minds  of  all  false  impressions  of  the  object, 
the  limits  and  personal  benefits  of  its  observance. 
And  when  we  insist,  according  to  the  laws  and 
examples  of  the  New  Testament,  that  only  bap- 
9* 


102  THE   SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


tized  believers,  united  in  a  church  capacity,  are 
authorized  to  observe  it ;  and  it  is  strictly  a 
Church  Institution ;  and  that  the  members  of  a 
church,  in  celebrating  it,  are  not  to  aim  at  com-, 
munion  with  each  other,  but  simply  communion 
with  Christ  by  faith  in  the  use  of  the  symbols ; 
we  are  met  with  censure,  charged  with  uncharit- 
ableness,  with  closeness,  narrowness,  sectarianism, 
and  bigotry.  Our  close  adhesion  to  the  New 
Testament,  and  our  purpose  of  strict  loyalty  to 
Christ,  are  severely  reprobated  because  they  con- 
flict with  these  old  Romish  dogmas  of  church 
communion.  But  as  we  are  made  enemies  for 
the  truth's  sake,  we  cannot  help  it.  We  claim 
not  perfection  or  infallibility.  But  we  do  claim 
that  our  views  and  practice  have  the  support  of 
the  New  Testament,  which  is  all  the  perfection 
and  infallibility  necessary.  And  we  love  all 
Christians  of  every  name,  but  we  love  Christ 
more.  Hence  our  close  and  unmoving  adhesion 
to  the  Scriptures.  This  is  our  single  and  suffi- 
cient defense. 

13.  Our  position  is  this.  We  understand  that 
regeneration  by  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  first  thing 
to  be  labored  and  looked  for  among  men.  Re- 
generation brings  a  person  into  the  invisible 
Church  of  Christ.  It  is  the  duty  of  every  new- 
born soul  to  be  baptized  j  and  it  is  the  duty  of 


ITS   ABUSES.  103 


only  such.  Baptism  is  a  voluntary  act  and 
brings  the  person  into  a  visible  church.  Every 
visible  church  is  founded  on  the  laws  and  prece- 
dents of  the  New  Testament,  being  complete  in 
itself  and  perfectly  independent.  The  Lord's 
Supper  is  a  Church  Institution,  given  to  each 
church  for  the  spiritual  benefit  of  its  members, 
to  remind  them  of  what  Christ  has  done  for 
them,  and  prepare  them  to  receive  these  spiritual 
gifts  which  Christ  dispenses  to  his  members 
through  the  Holy  Spirit's  operations. 

14.  An  accusation  has  been  brought  against 
our  position.  It  has  been  asserted  that  in  our 
refusing  to  commune  with  Pedobaptists,  and  in 
not  inviting  them  to  commune  with  us,  we  vir- 
tually declare  that  they  are  not  Christians,  or  at 
least  that  we  have  no  Christian  fellowship  for 
them.  This  accusation  is  quite  false,  as  a  con- 
sideration of  our  position  has  shown;  for  we 
hold  the  Supper  as  a  Church  Institution,  and  we 
exclude  from  it  the  purpose  of  exhibiting  our 
fellowship  for  others.  Thus  we  look  upon  the 
Supper  very  differently  from  our  accusers.  It 
has  also  been  said  that  our  position  virtually  de- 
clares that  Pedobaptist  churches  are  no  churches 
at  all.  To  this  we  simply  reply,  we  have 
never  asserted  that  Pedobaptist  churches  are  no 
churches   at    all ;    the    accusation    is   an   infer- 


104  THE    SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


ence  drawn  by  the  Pedobaptists  themselves ; 
with  how  much  propriety,  they  must  judge. 
With  how  many  errors  real  Christian  character 
may  co-exist  we  know  not ;  or  with  how  many 
false  views  and  practices  a  Christian  church  may 
exist  we  know  not :  in  these  things  we  do  not 
presume  to  judge ;  only  the  Lord  himself,  the 
judge  of  all,  can  decide  these  difficult  questions. 
But  we  are  not  allowed  by  him  to  practice  or  to 
fellowship  known  errors.  This  is  our  simple  and 
sufficient  defense. 

15.  We  take  the  laws  of  Christ,  as  found  in 
the  New  Testament,  for  our  law  in  all  religious 
things.  We  know  no  other  authority.  And 
while  we  love  all  who  love  Christ,  and  can  mani- 
fest our  fellowship  for  them  by  "  the  holy  kiss," 
by  "feasts  of  charity,"  by  "the  hand  of  fellow- 
ship," by  "love  unfeigned,"  by  mutual  prayers, 
by  united  songs,  by  co-operative  labors,  and  by 
many  other  unmistakable  evidences,  yet  we  can- 
not build  with  them  in  churches  unless  they  fol- 
low the  laws  of  Christ.  By  his  laws  we  en- 
deavor to  shape  all  our  views  and  practice,  and 
we  leave  all  others  to  do  the  same  for  themselves ; 
and  we  leave  them  also  to  be  judged  by  Christ, 
the  only  Lord  and  Judge  of  the  conscience. 
We  know  nothing  at  all  of  baptismal  regenera- 
tion ;  that  we  leave  to  Romanism  and  kindred 


ITS  ABUSES.  105 


systems.  We  know  nothing  of  sprinkling  and 
pouring  for  baptism ;  that  also  we  leave  to  the 
Papal  Power,  with  which  it  originated,  and  to 
those  who  in  this  respect  are  willing  to  follow  the 
Hierarchy.  We  are  ignorant  of  any  thing  super- 
natural, an  opus  operatum,  sacramental  sacrifice, 
in  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  also  of  communionism 
as  held  by  modern  Pedobaptists  ;  these  ideas  we 
leave  to  such  as  have  faith  in  them.  How  they 
are  to  be  reconciled  with  the  laws  of  God  we  do 
not  know. 

16.  It  must  be  conceded  to  the  Baptists — for 
our  history  is  plain  and  full  on  this  point — and 
no  well-informed  man  can  for  a  moment  enter- 
tain a  doubt  here — that  we  have  uniformly,  con- 
stantly, and  strenuously  contended  for  pure, 
spiritual  churches  after  the  New  Testament 
model.  Without  intermission,  and  to  the  utmost 
of  our  power,  we  have  labored  to  build  and  pre- 
serve evangelical  churches.  Undismayed  in  view 
of  fires,  and  prisons,  and  stripes,  and  fines,  we 
have  maintained  the  doctrines  and  principles 
given  by  Christ  and  the  Apostles.  No  denomi- 
nation of  Christians  has  suffered,  in  defense  of 
the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,  so  much  as 
we.  We  have  endured  from  the  days  of  Christ 
until  now — though  sometimes  few  in  numbers, 
but   never    weak    in    faith — whatever   a   wicked 


106  THE   SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


world  and  false  churches  have  been  able  to  cast 
upon  us  of  scorn,  disabilities,  misrepresentations 
and  abuses.  And  still  we  survive,  stronger  than 
ever,  to  toil  on,  and  to  sacrifice  in  the  same, 
cause  of  truth  and  righteousness.  Now,  to  plant 
and  maintain  simple  New  Testament  churches  is 
no  unimportant  work.  In  the  existence  and  ac- 
tivity of  such  churches,  is  involved  the  purity  of 
the  gospel  and  the  final  hope  of  the  world. 
Christianity  can  put  on  its  true  spirit,  and 
strength,  and  go  forth  to  the  conquest  of  the 
world,  only  by  means  of  such  churches  as  are 
made  up  of  truly  converted  members,  who  have 
voluntarily  and  gladly  taken  upon  them,  in  the 
solemn  ordinance  of  baptism,  the  vows  of  Christ, 
and  hold  themselves  as  the  purchased  property 
of  the  Redeemer,  to  live  by  his  laws  and  to  labor 
for  his  glory.  Spiritual,  independent,  self-denying, 
aggressive,  uncompromising  churches,  filled  with 
unfaltering  zeal  for  the  laws  of  Christ  and  a  pas- 
sion for  the  salvation  of  souls,  is  God's  chosen 
agency  for  the  world's  renovation.  To  realize  such 
churches  has  ever  been  the  aim  of  the  Baptists  ;  it 
is  due  to  ourselves  that  we  should  make  this  honor- 
able claim ;  its  justice,  the  history  of  our  struggles 
and  sufferings  will  abundantly  demonstrate.  Like 
the  fathers  that  have  gone  before  us,  we  are  willing 
to  wait  the  verdict  of  time.     Some  of  our  great 


ITS   ABUSES.  107 


principles  have  already  risen  to  general  acknowl- 
edgment. Others  are  coming  into  the  ascendant. 
We  have  only  to  stand  fast  and  be  faithful.  Our 
views  of  the  Lord's  Supper  are  now  being  severe- 
ly tried.  Against  these,  the  Pedobaptists  would 
seem  to  have  joined  the  forces  once  bent  in  vain 
against  other  of  our  peculiarities  that  have  now 
triumphed.  If  true  and  firm  in  this  hour  of 
trial,  our  victory  will  be  complete,  and  the  world 
will  finally  have  occasion  to  bless  us  as  the  ser- 
vants of  Christ,  who  held  the  truth  and  order 
of  the  gospel  for  the  world's  highest  good. 

17.  With  what  show  of  justice  are  we  censured 
for  not  admitting  to  the  Lord's  Supper  unbap- 
tized  persons,  when  it  has  been  an  admitted  rule 
of  all  Christians,  in  all  ages,  that  baptism  must 
precede  the  privileges  of  the  Supper  '{  Dr.  Wall 
tells  us,  "No  church  ever  gave  communion  to 
any  persons  before  they  were  baptized."  Bishop 
White  refused  to  administer  the  elements  to  an 
evangelical  Quaker.  "  Indeed,  all  ordinances  be- 
long, not  to  the  invisible  church,  as  such,  but  are 
committed  to  the  visible  churches  of  Christ." 
The  attempted  censure,  then,  really  amounts  to 
this — that  we  are  unwilling  to  call  sprinkling  and 
pouring  baptism,  even  when  administered  to  un- 
conscious babes.  If  this  be  censurable,  we  will 
bear  the  censure. 


108  TIIE    SUPPER    INSTITUTION. 


18.  Another  misconception  deserves  notice. 
It  is  said,  that,  since  our  Pedobaptist  brethren, 
really  believe  that  they  have  been  baptized,  they 
are  therefore  to  be  treated  as  though  they  had 
been.  This  is  making  the  belief  of  men  the  rule 
of  life,  instead  of  the  law  of  God  :  and  it  is 
making  the  belief  of  each  man  the  rule  by  which 
all  other  men  should  be  governed.  We  need 
only  mention  this  plea  to  discover  its  impracti- 
cability and  absurdity.  The  Quaker  believes  he 
has  been  truly  baptized.  The  Catholic  believes 
he  is  one  of  God's  elect.  The  Universalist  be- 
lieves that  he  has  been  redeemed  by  Christ, 
Paul,  while  persecuting  the  church,  believed  that 
he  was  doing  God's  service. 

19.  Let  every  man  be  fully  persuaded  in  his 
own  mind.  Let  every  man  walk  by  his  own 
faith,  and  not  by  the  faith  of  another.  And  let 
every  church  walk  by  its  own  faith,  accountable 
to  Christ  only.  Liberty  of  conscience  is  a 
golden,  priceless  principle.  It  is  tyranny  and 
wickedness  in  •  individuals,  in  churches,  and  in 
States,  to  impose  upon  men  religious  rules  which 
their  consciences  repudiate,  and  which  the  law 
of  God  does  not  inculcate.  In  regard  to  church 
membership  and  the  Supper  Institution,  we  hold, 
in  short,  that  the  persons  who  have  been  merely 
sprinkled  in  infancy  are  unbaptized,  because  the 


ITS   ABUSES.  109 


act  of  baptism  is  immersion,  and  the  act  is 
meant  to  be  a  profession  of  repentance,  and  faith 
in  Christ.  As  the  person  sprinkled  in  infancy 
has  neither  been  immersed,  nor  made,  even 
through  the  reception  of  the  sprinkled  water, 
any  profession  whatever  of  discipleship,  he  is 
wholly  unbaptized.  And  being  wholly  unbap- 
tized  he  is  unqualified  to  enter  a  church,  and 
therefore  unqualified  to  share  the  privileges  of 
a  church,  and  to  participate  in  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, which  is  a  Church  Institution. 

20.  We  have  treated,  perhaps,  at  sufficient 
length,  of  the  abuses  of  the  Supper  Institution. 
"We  have  been  obliged  to  speak  at  some  length, 
of  the  structure,  powers,  and  rights  of  churches. 
More  might  have  been  said  upon  this  important 
subject,  but  we  have  presented  only  what  seemed 
necessary  to  defend  the  character  and  position  of 
the  Lord's  Supper.  It  seemed  necessary  to  pre- 
sent all  that  we  have  said  to  meet  the  subtle,  yet 
shallow  and  false  pleas  of  modern  communionism, 
which  we  regard  as  a  very  serious  perversion  and 
abuse  of  the  Supper  Institution.  In  conclusion 
we  simply  say,  for  the  honor  of  Christ,  for  the 
parity  of  churches,  for  the  conservation  of  evan- 
gelical truth,  and  for  the  culture  of  spiritual  re- 
ligion and  eminent,  efficient  piety,  in  the  members 
of  every  church,  let  the  Supper  Institution  be 
10 


110 


THE    SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


understood  as  Christ  has  explained  it,  and  be 
kept  in  the  churches  in  the  manner  and  for  the 
purposes  mentioned  in  the  New  Testamemt. 
And  while  we  carefully,  zealously  maintain  it  in 
its  visible  form  and  outward  position,  let  us  not 
forget  its  high  and  holy  spiritual  character  and 
sanctifying  design. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

BENEFITS   OP   THE   INSTITUTION. 

1.  We  come  now  to  contemplate  the  special 
benefits  resulting  to  us  and  to  the  world  from  the 
proper  observance  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  And 
we  hope  this  may  be  found  the  most  interesting 
and  profitable  division  of  our  subject.  Certainly, 
the  subject  is  calculated  to  bring  us  nigh  to 
Christ,  and  to  refresh  our  hearts  by  personal 
communion  with  him. 

2.  It  may  be  regarded  as  a  great  general  fact, 
or  principle — and  it  is  one  of  the  first  consequence 
to  us — that  every  precept  and  every  appointment 
of  Christ  is  calculated  to  draw  us  near  to  him, 
and  to  bind  our  souls  in  closer  fellowship  with 
him.  And  while  they  directly  secure  these  holy, 
sanctifying  ends,  they  tend  indirectly  to  the 
world's  enlightenment  and  salvation.  For,  by 
our  fellowship  and  vital  connection  with  Christ, 
he  is  brought  into  the  world  and  revealed  to  men. 
Christ  is  glorified  in  us,  and  is  set  forth  among 

(111) 


112  THE    SUPPER    INSTITUTION. 


men,  when  we  imbibe  his  spirit,  his  feelings,  his 
purposes,  his  great  love  for  the  perishing. 
Whatever  then  brings  us  close  to  Christ,  brings, 
by  necessity,  the  greatest  spiritual  blessings  to 
us,  and  the  greatest  mercies  to  all  around  us. 
The  requirements  of  Christ,  we  may  say,  are  the 
ordained  channels  through  which  salvation  and 
all  great  spiritual  blessings  come  down  to  the 
children  of  men. 

3.  As  a  channel  for  conveying  to  our  souls, 
truth  and  grace,  light  and  love,  the  Lord's  Supper 
stands  unrivalled  and  complete.  It  is  simple  in 
its  structure  but  full  of  tender,  touching,  lofty,  and 
subduing  truths.  It  is  a  memorial  of  the  greatest 
event  that  ever  transpired  on  earth — the  crucifix- 
ion of  the  Son  of  God.  It  is  confirmatory  of  the 
most  precious  fact  which  relates  to  man — that 
Christ  dwells  in  his  saints  in  every  age,  and  works 
with  them  as  instruments  for  the  evangelization 
of  the  world.  It  is  prophetic  of  the  most  solemn 
and  august  event  lying  in  the  future — the  second 
coming  of  Christ  to  judge  the  world,  to  pronounce 
eternal  doom  upon  the  wicked,  and  to  take  his 
adopted  children  to  dwell  with  him  forever  in  the 
heavenly  country.  In  short,  the  Supper  speaks 
of  Christ,  for  sinners  slain ;  of  Christ,  the  bread 
of  heaven ;  of  Christ,  the  believer's  life ;  of  Christ, 
the  coming  Judge  of  all  the  earth.     Many  and 


ITS   BENEFITS.  113 


precious,  then,  must  be  the  benefits  resulting  from 
a  correct  understanding,  and  a  legitimate  use,  of 
the  holy  Institution. 

4.  The  Saviour  appointed  the  Supper  Institu- 
tion as  a  direct  means  of  retaining  and  cultivating 
the  divine  life  implanted  in  the  soul  by  the  Holy 
Spirit.  In  consideration  of  the  laws  of  our  nature, 
we  hardly  exaggerate  when  we.  say,  the  Supper 
is  indispensable  as  a  means  of  preserving  spiritual 
religion  in  the  churches,  and  therefore  in  the 
world  :  for  it  will  be  found  to  be  true,  as  a  gen- 
eral thing,  that  the  gospel  has  flourished  in  its 
purity,  and  achieved  its  highest  spiritual  results, 
brought  forth  its  most  excellent  fruits,  where 
correct  views  of  this  Institution  have  most  freely 
obtained,  where  men  have  observed  it  as  a  means 
of  spiritual  intercourse  with  Christ.  It  would 
seem  that  bare  doctrines  and  narrations — mere 
verbal  representations  of  the  scheme  of  redemp- 
tion— were  insufficient  for  a  race  of  sinners,  so 
far  fallen  under  the  dominion  of  sense  as  to 
need  a  gospel  that  should  appeal,  in  some  part 
at  least,  to  their  senses,  and  reach  their  souls 
through  the  avenues  of  the  body.  So  the  Lord 
in  all  ages  has  employed,  more  or  less,  sensible 
objects  as  symbols  and  agents  to  convey  to  the 
minds  of  men  spiritual  objects  and  spiritual  bless- 
ings. Thus  the  laws  and  promises  of  God  were, 
10* 


114  THE   SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


by  sacrifices,  by  sabbath  solemnities,  by  the  Pass- 
over, by  the  multiplied  visible  interpositions  of 
God,  and  the  manifold  outward  rites  ordained  of 
old,  printed  upon  the  minds  of  patriarchs  and 
the  children  of  Israel,  as  no  bare  verbal  commu- 
nications could  ever  have  impressed  them.  And 
under  the  gospel  dispensation,  multitudes  have 
been  struck  with  deep  and  lasting  convic- 
tions from  barely  witnessing  the  ordinance  of 
baptism  ;  and  thousands  have  felt  their  hearts 
burn  with  holy  fire,  as  if  it  had  been  caught  from 
heaven,  while  contemplating  and  receiviug  the 
emblems  used  in  the  Lord's  Supper.  Here  we 
may  again  recall  the  great  educational  law — one 
as  true  in  regard  to  religion  as  in  reference  to 
ordinary  education — a  law  too  often  overlooked, 
if  indeed  generally  known — that  truth  first 
reaches  the  mind  through  the  medium  of  the 
senses.  In  short,  all  education  begins  with  the 
senses,  and,  at  all  stages,  is  much  aided  by  the 
senses,  in  the  use  of  diagrams,  pictures,  outlines, 
and  visible  representations.  So,  the  material 
creation  is  the  vehicle  for  the  immaterial,  the 
physical,  for  the  spiritual.  So  then,  the  Supper 
Institution,  with  its  ■  emblems,  is  a  needed  and 
effective  means  of  grace,  a  medium  or  channel 
through  which  truth  and  spiritual  blessings  are 


ITS   BENEFITS.  115 


communicated  to  the  souls  of  all  proper  parti- 
cipants. 

5.  The  Supper  Institution  may  also  be  com- 
pared to  a  framework,  which  visibly  holds  before 
us  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  those 
which,  being  kept  distinctly  and  freshly  in  our 
minds,  preserve  the  scheme  of  redemption  in  its 
integrity  and  its  power.  Christianity  is,  indeed, 
a  new  and  divine  life  in  the  souls  of  men ;  but 
this  life  is  fed  by  truth,  and  unfolded  by  the 
Spirit  of  God  dwelling  within  and  appplying  or 
appropriating  divine  truth.  And  the  Supper 
continually  holds  before  our  eyes  the  truths  most 
needed.  As  the  electric  current  must  have  its 
transmitting  wires,  so  the  divine  life  from  Christ, 
the  source,  must  have  its  proper  and  adapted 
framework  through  which  to  reach  our  sense- 
encompassed  souls.  A  commentator-  has  truly 
said :  "  The  gospel  is  a  Divine  act,  which  con- 
tinues to  operate  through  all  ages  of  the  world, 
and  that  not  in  the  first  place  outwardly,  but  in- 
wardly, in  the  depths  of  the  soul,  and  for  eternal 
purposes."  But  the  Divine  act  is  operative 
through  the  word  of  God  and  through  the  duties 
required  of  men,  that  is,  through  the  doctrines 
and  rites  of  the  gospel,  and  not  apart  from 
these  :  it  is  effective  inwardly  through  the  chan- 
nel of  things  outward.     The  union  of  doctrines 


116  THE   SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


and  external  rites  is  for  the  sake  of  the  divinely 
implanted  life  within  ;  they  are  like  the  body  in 
which  the  life  dwells,  and  through  which  it  ex- 
hibits itself,  in  part  to  the  world.  It  is  import- 
ant that  the  body  be  perfect  and  healthy.  There 
may  be  life  in  a  deformed  body ;  even  some  limbs 
may  be  amputated  without  the  loss  of  life  ;  but 
in  all  cases  the  life  is  impaired  and  denied 
perfect  action  ;  and  with  the  loss  of  some  parts 
of  the  body  follows  life  itself.  The  Reformation 
under  Luther  was  incomplete,  and,  in  main, 
lapsed  back,  in  the  land  of  its  origin,  into  a  dead 
ecclesiasticism,  because  the  reformer  did  not  re- 
store Baptism  and  the  Supper  Institution  to  their 
original  order  and  purity  ;  so  there  was  no  sound 
body  to  sustain  the  inner  life.  Pedobaptism  and 
communionism  are  manifest  obstacles  to  the  cul- 
ture of  spiritual  religion  ;  they  belong  rather  to 
a  system  of  ecclesiasticism,  and  a  religion  of  out- 
ward forms  and  friendships  ;  they  belong  not 
properly  to  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  as  they  have  no 
authority  from  his  word.  It  is  true,  we  find  genu- 
ine piety  co-existing  with  the  practice  of  sprink- 
ling infants  for  baptism,  and  the  appropriation 
of  the  Lord's  Supper  to  the  purposes  of  Chris- 
tian friendship  and  fellowship;  but  this  only 
shows  the  abounding  goodness  of  our  God,  since 
even  our  errors  and  malpractices  cannot  utterly 


ITS   BENEFITS.  117 


defeat  the  operations  of  his  grace.  And,  with 
how  great  ecclesiastical  idiosyncracies  and  con- 
scientious errors  and  inconsistences  true  piety- 
may  co-exist,  no  man  is  able  to  say.  But  this 
does  not  justify  known  errors. 

6.  The  Supper  Institution,  by  inviting  and 
urging,  in  the  most  simple,  easy,  and  persuasive 
manner,  the  participant  to  contemplate  Christ  in 
his  person,  in  his  life  on  earth,  and  his  sufferings, 
brings  to  the  soul  the  highest  possible  blessings. 
There  is  nothing  that  so  vitalizes,  animates,  cheers 
and  strengthens  the  Christian  soul,  and  so  sub- 
serves the  Christian  life,  warming  and  unfolding 
it  to  holy  proportions  and  aims,  as  clear  views  of 
the  Redeemer.  In  a  deep,  spiritual  sense,  Christ 
is  the  bread  of  heaven  by  which  the  redeemed 
soul  is  nourished  and  developed.  Except  we, 
by  faith,  eat  his  flesh  and  drink  his  blood,  there 
is  no  life  in  us.  The  Supper  presents  to  our 
minds  his  flesh  and  his  blood.  True  it  is,  per- 
sons receive  from  his  hands  eternal  life,  and  some 
are  enabled  to  live  in  some  measure  above  the 
world,  who  have  never  put  him  on  by  baptism, 
and  have  never  partaken  of  the  Supper ;  indeed 
every  soul  must  be  born  again  before  accepting 
of  baptism,  whereby  they  enter  a  visible  Church, 
and  so,  come  to  the  Supper ;  but  the  life  within, 
given  from  above,  is  best  nurtured  in  the  church 


118  THE    SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


of  Christ,  and  by  the  means  appointed  for  its 
invigoration  and  development.  Believers  that 
remain  outside  of  the  house  of  God  are  always 
weak  and  sickly;  like  sheep  outside  the  fold, 
they  are  full  of  fears,  being  exposed  to  the 
attacks  of  the  beasts  of  prey.  The  redeemed 
soul  should  keep  near  to  Christ,  should  follow 
him,  walking  in  his  foot-prints,  and  ever  holding 
spiritual  converse  with  him.  And  did  not  the 
Redeemer  say,  "  If  ye  keep  my  commandments 
ye  shall  abide  in  my  love."  The  path  of  obe- 
dience is  strewn  with  blessings.  The  command- 
ment to  keep  the  Supper  in  remembrance  of  him 
is  a  means  of  abiding  in  his  love. 

7.  Now,  what  is  the  greatest  blessing  that  a 
Christian  can  enjoy  ?  Is  it  not  intimate,  intelli- 
gent, constant  communion  with  Christ  ?  And 
what  is  the  highest  blessing  that  a  church  can 
enjoy?  Is  it  not  to  have  Christ  dwelling  in  its 
midst  ?  What  is  the  greatest  conceivable  benefit 
that  could  come  to  the  churches  throughout  the 
world  ?  Would  it  not  be  to  have  him  who 
holdeth  the  seven  stars  hi  his  right  hand,  ever 
walking  among  the  golden  candlesticks  ?  Chris- 
tianity becomes  a  dead  religion,  it  sinks  into 
formalism  and  ecclesiasticism  when  the  presence 
of  Christ  is  withdrawn.  The  Supper  was  or- 
dained  as  a  means   of  maintaining   his  divine 


ITS   BENEFITS.  119 


presence  among  his  followers,  since  thereby  spe- 
cially we  have  fellowship  and  communion  with 
him.  This  is  what  is  now  and  always  needed  ; 
needed  above  all  things ;  needed  by  every  Chris- 
tian ;  needed  by  every  church ;  needed  over  all 
Christendom.  We  all  need  personal  intercourse 
with  the  adorable  Redeemer.  Were  we  habitu- 
ally to  contemplate  his  wonderful  person,  uniting 
the  divine  and  the  human  ;  to  ponder  his  lowly, 
benevolent,  self-denying,  holy  life  ;  to  study  his 
heavenly  teachings ;  to  trace  his  foot-prints 
through  all  his  redeeming  mission ;  to  gaze  often 
upon  his  perfect  character  and  example ;  to  sur- 
vey continually  his  struggles  and  his  sufferings 
in  our  behalf;  to  follow  him  to  the  temple,  to 
the  garden,  to  Bethany,  to  Genesareth,  to  Olivet, 
to  Jerusalem,  to  Gethsemane,  and  to  Calvary; 
could  we  so  far  catch  his  spirit  and  imbibe  his  ex- 
ample as  to  reproduce,  in  any  good  measure,  his 
influence — then  would  the  golden  age  of  Chris- 
tianity be  brought  in ;  then  would  the  apostolic 
days  and  deeds  be  again  realized ;  then  would 
the  kingdom  of  God  come,  and  both  angels  and 
men  might  sing  again,  "  Peace  on  earth,  and  good- 
will to  men."  The  proper  observance  of  the 
Supper  is  calculated  to  thus  bring  Christ  into 
the  churches,  and  to  hold  him  there  as  the  object 
of  habitual  contemplation,  and   thus  to  secure 


120  THE    SUPPER    INSTITUTION. 


readily  and  permanently  the  benefits  and  bless- 
ings to  which  we  have  alluded. 

8.  Whatever  tends  to  transfer  or  transmit 
Christ's  life,  his  thoughts,  his  feelings,  his  pur- 
poses, his  love,  his  grace,  his  compassion  for  sin- 
ners, and  his  zeal  for  the  Father's  glory,  to  his 
professed  people,  must  result  in  benefits  innumer- 
able and  blessings  unspeakable.  The  Supper 
Institution,  when  properly  understood,  when  kept 
in  its  proper  place,  and  in  its  proper  manner, 
uncorrupted  with  Romish  superstitions  and  un- 
perverted  by  Protestant  communionism ;  when 
kept  simply  and  sincerely  by  each  church  in  re- 
membrance of  Christ — tends  directly  and  power- 
fully, by  a  law  of  our  nature,  husbanded  through 
the  divine  appointment,  to  transfer  Christ's  char- 
acter by  transmitting  his  life  to  his  people. 

9.  We  long  for  the  bright  and  blessed  day  to 
come,  when  all  believers  shall  come  to  that  po- 
sition in  belief  and  practice,  which  will  enable 
them  to  see  the  Institution  standing  on  the  high 
and  holy  ground  where  the  Saviour  placed  it — 
to  see  it  radiant  with  rays  of  truth  from  the 
throne  of  Christ,  and  full  of  gracious  memories 
and  intimations  like  a  divine,  historic,  and  pro- 
phetic oracle.  If  we  will  make  all  things  ready 
for  the  great  benefit — all  things  in  our  hearts,  in 
our  lives,  in  our  churches — and  will  stand  with 


ITS   BENEFITS.  121 


our  loins  girt  about  with  truth,  and  the  sandals 
of  a  ready  obedience  upon  our  feet,  truly,  pray- 
ing "  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ?" — 
then  we  may  expect  that  Christ  will  walk  among 
the  churches,  and  reveal  his  glories  and  his  re- 
deeming power.  But  he  will  bring  with  him 
Calvary  and  the  Cross,  since  these  we  need 
in  order  to  honor  him  duly,  and  to  be  properly 
qualified  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  perishing. 
By  means  of  His  Supper  Institution  he  has  set 
Calvary  and  the  Cross  in  each  of  his  churches. 
A  blessed  appointment,  abounding  alike  in  wis- 
dom and  mercy. 

10.  In  confirmation  of  our  views,  we  might 
appeal  to  the  experiences  of  multitudes.  Nor  is 
the  argument  from  experience  an  unimportant 
one.  It  is  natural  to  infer,  that  right  views  and 
practices  will  find  an  approval  from  within,  since 
the  Lawgiver  in  Zion  is  the  author  of  our  natures, 
the  ever-present  Lord  of  our  consciences,  and 
has  adjusted  his  requisitions  to  our  natures  and 
necessities.  He  has  ordained  churches  to  pro- 
mote the  nurture  and  development  of  the  higher 
life  in  his  children,  and  to  secure  the  propaga- 
tion of  the  gospel  among  men.  Where  churches 
have  been  planted  after  his  laws,  these  results  have 
been  happily  realized ;  thus  experience  attests  to 
the  character  of  churches  rightly  constructed. 
11 


122  THE    SUPPER    INSTITUTION. 


Again,  it  is  said  of  baptism,  that  it  is  the  answer 
of  a  good  conscience  toward  God  ;  that  is,  when 
a  believer  accepts  this  ordinance  in  the  right  man- 
ner, with  the  spirit,  he  experiences  the  approval 
of  God  and  receives  a  peculiar  blessing.  And,  . 
in  this  connection,  it  is  worthy  of  mention,  that, 
while  multitudes  have  been  dissatisfied  with 
sprinkling  for  baptism,  no  one  was  ever  dissatis- 
fied with  immersion,  when  administered  properly 
on  profession  of  repentance  and  faith.  True  obe- 
dience to  the  behests  of  Christ  is  always  fol- 
lowed by  conscious  blessing.  So,  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  ;  when  it  has  been  properly  observed — 
observed  within  the  limits,  in  the  manner,  and 
for  the  purposes  specified  by  the  Lord — peculiar 
blessings  have  been  realized.  Evangelical  churches 
have  had  an  experience  not  found  in  the  Catholic 
Church,  nor  in  formal  ecclesiastical  establish- 
ments. And  churches  that  hold  the  Supper  as 
an  Institution  belonging  to  them  as  churches  of 
the  Lord,  and  keep  it  strictly  in  remembrance  of 
Christ,  realize  richer  and  sweeter  spiritual  bene- 
fits than  such  as  cumber  and  confuse  the  Institu- 
tion with  their  own  communionism.  We  appeal 
confidently  to  the  experience  of  thousands  who 
have  observed  the  Supper  as  he  has  commanded, 
in  remembrance  of  Christ.  Has  not  your  faith 
been  increased,  your  love  been  kindled,  your  zeal 


ITS    BENEFITS.  12, 


been  inflamed  ?  Have  you  not  had  new  views  of 
the  condescension,  the  compassion,  the  abound- 
ing grace  of  the  Son  of  God  ?  Have  you  not 
had  new  discoveries  of  the  nature  and  desert  of 
sin  ?  Have  you  not  had  more  abasing  views  of 
yourselves,  while  at  the  same  time,  the  person 
and  the  work  of  the  Redeemer  shone  more  lumin- 
ously before  your  penitent  yet  rejoicing  souls  ? 
Yes,  how  often,  as  if  utterly  forgetting  all  around 
us,  as  if  transported  to  Calvary,  as  if  in  presence 
of  the  Cross ;  and  as  if  in  sight,  too,  of  the  me- 
diatorial throne,  our  hearts  have  been  dissolved 
in  penitence,  in  love,  in  wonder,  and  in  praise. 
And  as  we  have  gazed  on  the  Cross,  all  melted 
and  enraptured  with  the  view — no  longer  won- 
dering that  all  nature  sympathized  in  that  scene 
when  the  Son  of  God,  on  whom  rested  the  des- 
tiny of  our  race,  poured  out  his  life — have  we 
not  seemed  to  hear  the  stirring  appeal  to  our 
obedience  coming  from  the  lips  of  the  dying 
Saviour — 

"  This  I  did  for  thee— 
"What  hast  thou  done  for  me?" 

What  pen  can  delineate  the  benefits,  the  blessings, 
that  flow  to  us  through  a  proper  spiritual  ob- 
servance of  the  Supper  Institution  !  "  The  cup  of 
blessing  which  we  bless,  is  it  not  the  communion 


124  THE    SUrPER   INSTITUTION. 


of  the  blood  of  Christ  ?  The  bread  which  we 
break,  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the  body  of 
Christ  ?" 

11.  No  well-informed  Christian  can  afford  to 
neglect  the  observance  of  this  holy,  symbolical, 
heart-quickening  Institution.  It  is  a  divinely 
appointed  means  for  communing  with  the  Author 
and  Finisher  of  our  salvation.  It  is  a  chosen  re- 
membrance of  Jesus  as  he  once  was,  and  a  sacred 
pledge  of  his  reappearance  with  glory.  Let, 
then,  the  sacred  Institution  stand  in  its  simplicity, 
and  moral  sublimity,  in  the  centre  of  every  church  ; 
and  let  every  enrolled  follower  of  Jesus  approach 
it  worthily,  discerning  the  Lord's  body.  And  as 
the  face  of  Moses  shone  with  heavenly  lustre  as 
he  came  down  from  the  mount  where  he  com- 
muned with  God,  and  as  a  celestial  brightness 
encompassed  those  that  were  with  Jesus  on  the 
Mount  of  Transfiguration,  so  may  a  radiance 
divine,  through  the  Spirit's  power,  be  caught 
from  Jesus  in  this  holy  Institution,  so  that  our 
hearts  may  burn  within  us,  and  our  faces  shine 
with  moral  beauty,  and  our  lives  be  radiant  with 
the  spirit  and  power  of  Christ. 

12.  We  can  hardly  pause  in  speaking  upon 
this  important  subject.  Like  the  disciples  on 
the  Mount  of  Transfiguration,  we  are  ready  to 
make  tabernacles  and   dwell  here.     Nothing  is 


ITS   BENEFITS.  125 


more  delightful  than  to  be  in  the  presence  of 
Christ,  when  he  is  revealing  his  glories.  Still, 
we  must  turn  away,  and  go  down  again  into  the 
field  of  toil.  But  let  us  carry  with  us  a  new 
spirit,  and  new  hopes,  and  a  stronger  faith.  When 
our  work  is  done,  we  shall  be  taken  to  the  mount 
above  ;  and  be  ourselves  not  barely  transfigured, 
but  transformed  into  the  likeness  of  Him  whom 
we  now  adore  and  serve.  There  we  shall  enjoy 
the  everlasting  Passover.  Our  preseDt  contem- 
plations may  close  with  a  few  practical  reflections, 
calculated  to  direct  us  in  the  path  of  duty  and 
of  service  till  our  brief  period  of  stewardship  shall 
be  ended. 

13.  We  now  proceed  to  offer  a  few  closing  re- 
marks. 

The  statute  book  for  Christians  and  Christian 
churches,  is  the  New  Testament.  The  Old 
Testament  is  invaluable,  containing  as  it  does, 
the  history  of  the  divine  dispensation,  prior  to 
the  coming  of  Messiah,  together  with  prophecies, 
biographical  sketches,  sacred  psalms,  and  all  the 
rites  and  statutes  which  God  ordained  from  time 
to  time.  They  will  never  lose  their  charm,  and 
their  power  to  instruct  us ;  but  they  do  not  con- 
stitute the  statute  book  of  the  new  dispensation. 
The  new  Will  and  Testament  of  the  Redeemer,  is 
our  specific  guide ;  by  this,  all  things  are  made 
11* 


126  THE    SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


new :  this  we  accept  in  its  letter  and  its  spirit, 
and  by  it  we  are  thoroughly  furnished  in  faith 
and  forms  for  Christian  life,  and  church  building. 
We  have  no  law  which  cannot  be  found  here. 
And  in  vain  may  popes,  or  priests,  or  councils, 
or  synods,  or  conferences,  or  associations,  ask  us 
to  add  to,  or  take  from  this  complete  and  divine 
standard.  We  are  unmoved  by  arguments  from 
human  authority.  We  yield  not  to  the  traditions 
of  pious  fathers,  nor  to  the  long-continued  cus- 
toms of  great  ecclesiastical  bodies.  Our  single 
and  constant  appeal  is  to  "  the  law  and  to  the 
testimony." 

If  in  our  understanding  of  the  Supper  Institu- 
tion, we  are  at  present  in  the  minority  among 
professed  Christians,  let  not  this  consideration 
of  itself  have  any  weight  upon  our  views  and 
practices.  We  once  stood  alone  in  our  views 
of  "soul  liberty."  We  once  stood  alone  in  our 
practice  of  church  independency.  Nor  is  the 
kingdom  of  God  dependent  upon  views  and  de- 
cisions of  majorities,  but  upon  the  truth  held 
consistently,  perseveringly,  and  in  love.  Let  us 
be  anxious  only  to  have  the  mind  of  Christ.  It 
is  sufficient  evidence  of  the  weakness  and  unsound- 
ness of  the  positions  of  those  who  object  to  our 
views,  that  they  endeavor  to  support  them  by 
arguments  drawn  from  human  sympathies,  eccle- 


ITS   BENEFITS.  127 


siastical  usages,  and  the  doctrines  of  expediency, 
and  not  from  the  lips  of  the  Saviour.  If  our 
principles  can  be  shown  to  be  antagonistic  to  the 
letter  and  spirit  of  the  New  Testament,  we  are 
ready  at  once  to  renounce  them.  The  question 
with  us  is  one  of  loyalty  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Let  us  never  be  afraid  to  preach  and  publish 
our  views.  Truth  cannot  suffer  by  being  exposed 
to  scrutiny  and  criticism  :  gold  will  endure  the 
fire  ;  and  let  the  dross  be  burned  up.  Doubtless 
we  are  in  fault  that  we  do  not  preach  and  write 
more  upon  the  Supper  Institution,  that  those  who 
differ  from  us  may  be  less  excusable  for  misrepre- 
senting our  principles  and  practice.  We  are 
confident  that  our  opponents,  when  made  fully 
acquainted  with  our  views,  could  not  fail  to  see 
that  they  are  consistent  in  themselves  and  have 
the  clear  support  of  the  New  Testament. 

But  whatever  may  be  the  conclusions  and 
practices  of  others,  let  us  adhere  to  the  divine 
standard,  and  always  keep  the  Supper  Institution, 
both  in  form  and  spirit,  exactly  as  our  Lord  left 
it  to  us.  If  others  feel  that  they  must  employ 
the  sacred  Institution  as  a  test  of  brotherly  affec- 
tion, using  the  consecrated  emblems  as  tokens  of 
their  regard  for  each  other ;  let  us  not  be  swerved 
by  their  practice,  but  hold  the  Institution  in  its 
original  rank,  and  for  its  original  purposes,  as 


128  THE   SUPPER   INSTITUTION. 


sacred  to  Christ  alone.  By  it  let  us  commune 
with  our  Lord,  and  attempt  no  other  communion. 
Thus  keeping  it,  no  serious  errors  or  difficulties 
can  arise ;  but  from  every  false  view  and  unscrip- 
tural  appropriation  of  it,  sooner  or  later,  danger- 
ous errors  are  sure  to  spring  forth,  as  all  the 
pages  of  ecclesiastical  history  will  testify.  As 
soon  as  we  depart  from  the  simple  scriptural 
ground  we  occupy,  we  open  the  doors  of  our 
churches  to  every  form  of  doctrine  and  practice 
that  may  take  on  the  name  of  Christian.  If  our 
opponents  were  fully  to  carry  out  the  views  they 
advocate,  they  would  welcome  to  the  Supper 
Institution,  Romanists,  Unitarians,  Campbellites, 
not  a  few  Universalists,  and  all  who  should  claim 
that  they  were  Christians.  Let  us,  then,  still 
continue  to  guard  the  churches  of  Christ  against 
corruptions,  by  guarding  the  door  of  the  church, 
and  by  guarding  especially  the  Supper  Institution, 
against  which  special  and  vigorous  attacks  are 
now  being  made. 

Every  church  must  announce  the  celebration 
of  the  Supper,  and  employ  such  a  form  of  invita- 
tion to  those  present,  as  may  seem  best.  Perhaps 
it  would  be  unwise  to  propose  any  form  to  be 
universally  adopted.  Were  I  to  devise  a  form  to 
be  read  by  a  church  before  observing  the  Institu- 
tion, it  would  be  something  like  the  following : 


ITS   BENEFITS.  129 


We  understand  the  New  Testament  to  teach  : 

First:  That  the  Supper  Institution  belongs  to 
churches  as  such,  and  not  to  believers  promiscu- 
ously, or  to  churches  collectively  : 

Second:  That  in  the  use  of  the  symbols,  in  the 
order  appoiuted  by  Christ,  we  are  to  commune 
by  faith  with  Christ,  and  not  with  one  another : 

Therefore :  While  we  protest  against  the  use 
of  such  phrases  as  "  Christian  fellowship,"  "  close 
communion,  and  "  open  communion,"  as  used  by 
many  in  reference  to  this  Institution ; 

We  invite,  to  sit  with  us  in  observing  the 
Supper,  all  members  in  good  standing  of  churches 
coinciding  with  us  in  views  and  practice,  who  are 
providentially  with  us ;  and  such  we  invite,  not 
to  commune  with  us,  but  to  join  with  us  while 
we  endeavor  to  obey  Christ  in  remembering  and 
communing  with  Him. 

Finally,  what  we  all  most  need  as  Christians, 
and  as  churches  is  : 

First:  The  disposition,  the  mind,  the  spirit 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  since  this  alone  will 
open  the  mind  and  heart  to  the  reception  of  truth, 
and  incline  our  feet  forward  in  the  paths  of  obe- 
dience : 

Second:  A  determination  to  study  thoroughly, 
and  follow  faithfully,  the  precepts  and  examples 


130  THE    SUPPER    INSTITUTION. 


of  the  New  Testament,  in  whatever  direction,  and 
to  whatever  sacrifices  they  may  lead  us  : 

Third :  Patience  to  wait  for  the  progress  and 
triumphs  of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  among  men, 
a  willingness  to  do  and  suffer  without  rewards 
here,  hoping,  through  the  sure  promises  of  our 
Lord,  for  bliss  and  glory  eternal  in  the  Kingdom 
of  God  above. 

And  now,  if  any  are  unable  to  see  the  things 
of  which  we  have  spoken,  as  we  see  them,  and 
hence  feel  called  to  differ  with  us,  we  may  say  to 
them  in  the  language  of  Hezekiah's  prayer  for 
the  "many  of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  Issachar 
and  Zebulon  :"  "The  good  Lord  pardon  every 
one  that  prepareth  his  heart  to  seek  God,  the 
Lord  God  of  his  fathers,  though  he  be  not 
cleansed  according  to  the  purification  of  the 
sanctuary." 


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Rev.  Baron  Stow.  On  the  suggestion  of  one  of  the  publishers, 
however,  it  was  sent  to  Professors  Stuart  and  Woods,  and  came 
back  with  compliments  as  to  its  fairness,  &c,  but  with  the  sug- 
gestion that  two  articles,  one  from  a  Baptist  and  the  other  from  a 
Pedobaptist,  each  giving  his  own  view,  would  be  a  better  course 
— this  course  was  adopted,  and  the  present  publication  has 
slumbered  until  now." 

From  the  Christian  Chronicle. 

u  It  is  a  candid,  learned,  Christian,  and  thorough  discussion  of 
this  disputed  question  of  baptism.  Mr.  Brown  states  the  views 
of  Pedobaptists  on  one  side,  with  the  arguments  employed  by 
them  in  their  support ;  and  also  the  views  of  the  Baptists,  with 
the  arguments  employed  by  them  in  their  support,  on  the  other 
Bide,  and  we  think  the  latter  are  shown  to  be  scriptural  and  con- 
clusive. It  is  one — considering  its  brevity — of  the  best  pro- 
ductions we  have  met  on  this  important  subject.  Pastors  and 
students  will  receive  much  light  for  their  future  guidance  by 
patiently  reading  this  little  volume. 

From  the  American  Baptist. 
"It  is  a  brief,  but  remarkably  clear  and  faithful  statement  of 
the  principal  arguments  on  both  sides  of  the  Haptismal  contro- 
versy. So  far  as  we  can  see,  the  writer  has  performed  the  task 
he  proposed  to  himself  with  entire  impartiality,  and  in  an  emi- 
nently catholic  spirit. 

From  the  ZiorrCs  Advocate. 
"It  is  a  thorough  and  logical  production,  and  having  passed 
the  ordeal  of  criticism,  by  Pedobaptist  scholars,  may  be  relied  on 
as  a  fair  presentation  of  the  subject." 

From  the  Presbyterian. 
"  Although  the  Baptismal  Balance  does  not  shake  our  faith  in 
the  doctrine  of  Infant  Baptism,  we  are  free  to  confess  that  it  is 
written  in  an  eminently  good  spirit. 


fifoKKcqi)  Jtefrifef  ^qbii^iioo  Society, 

530  ARCH  STREET,  PHILADELPHIA. 


WBSMM  €  J 

A  Biography.    By  Joseph  Belcher,  D.D. 

WITH  A 

Superb  Mezzotint  of  Carey  and  his  Pundit, 

And  other  Engravings. 

12mo.    306  pp.    Price  80  cts. 


The  illustrious  subject  of  this  Memoir,  its  interesting  style,  and  the 
many  new  facts  and  incidents  introduced  combine  to  render  it  a 
very  important  addition  to  our  Missionary  Literature.  It  bad  been 
hailed  by  the  public  press  with  universal  approbation. 

From  tlie   Christian  Observer,  (Presbyterian). 

"The  personal  history  of  Dr.  Carey  is  a  bright  illustration  of 
Divine  grace,  and  the  sketch  of  it  given  in  this  Memoir,  offers  to 
Christians  of  every  class,  a  hallowed  example  of  the  power  of  faith 
to  encourage  or  sustain  then:  efforts  to  promote  the  great  interests 
of  religion." 

From  the  Christian  Herald,  (Presbyterian). 

"Dr.  Belcher  has  executed  his  task  not  only  skilfully,  but  with 
an  affection,  appreciation,  and  sympathy,  which  gives  a  peculiar 
charm  to  the  work." 

From  the  Presbyterian. 

"  We  think  the  author  of  this  work  has  done  well  in  preparing  a 
new  biography  of  so  excellent  a  man.  *  *  *  It  is  a  more 
complete  and  readable  Memoir  than  that  with  which  the  Christian 
public  have  been  so  many  years  acquainted." 

From  the  Watchman  and  Reflector. 
"  This  volume  is  one  of  the  most  readable,  as  well  as  valuable 
of  all  our  Missionary  Memoirs.    The  engravings,  which  are  seven 
In  number,  illustrative  and  well-chosen,  add,  with  a  neat  typo- 
graphical aspect,  attraction  and  interest." 

From  the  Christian  Review. 

"  Such  a  popular  account  of  the  life  and  labors  of  the  father  of 

English  Baptist  Missions,  has  long  been  needed.    "We  recommend 

the  work  to  our  readers,  praying  that  it  may  deepen  the  Missionary 

Spirit  in  our  Churches." 

From  the  National  Magazine. 
"The  Baptist  Church  has  been  greatly  honored  of  God  in  her 
Missionaries.  *  *  *  Dr.  Carey  will  never  be  forgotten  for  his 
labors  in  Oriental  literature.  *  *  *  The  book  before  us  is 
cne  of  great  interest.  *  *  •  It  Is  a  worthy  contribution  to 
•ur  Missionary  Literature. 

••• 

gmmran  gaptist  fttMiaiwn  %uit% 

630  ARCH  STREET,  PHILADELPHIA. 


Complete  in  One  Volume,  12mo.,  432  pp., 
WITH  SIXTY-THREE  ENGRAVINGS. 

Price  $1.00. 

New  and  Improved  Edition. 
■»> 

TRAVELS  IN  SOUTH  EASTERN  ASIA :  embracing  Hindustan, 
Malaya,  Slam  and  China;  with  notices  of  numerous  Mission- 
ary Stations,  and  a  full  account  of  the  Burman  Empire.    By 
Howard  Malcom,  D.D.,  President  of  the  University  at  Lewia 
burg. 
Twenty  Thousand  copies  of  this  valuable  work  have  been  already 
told.    It  has  been  reviewed  favorably,  by  the  leading  magazines  of 
America,  England,  and  the  East  Tndies,  and  in  most  of  the  promi- 
nent newspapers,  and  noticed  also  in  many  letters  from  Mission- 
aries, and  no  statement  in  it  has  ever  been  contradicted  or  cor- 
rected. 

Opinion  of  Dr.  Adoniram  Judson. 
"There  Is  more  correct  information  in  this  book  on  subjects  con- 
nected with  modern  Missions,  than  can  be  found  in  any  other  pub- 
lication.'1 

Opinion  of  Dr.  Francis  Wayland. 
"  Unless  we  greatly  err,  this  volume  will  become  a  stock  book  of 
travels,  and  will  remain  as  a  book  of  reference  and  entertainment, 
after  many  of  its  contemporary  Journals  have  been  forgotten.  • 
*  We  hail  the  work  as  a  valuable  addition  to  our  knowledge  of 
the  East." 

From  the  Ecclectic  Review,  (England). 

"  We  heartily  and  strongly  recommend  this  volume  as  lntrinsl* 

eally  valuable,  and  as  embodying  a  mass  of  intelligence  on  India, 

which  so  far  as  our  information  extends,  will  be  sought  In  vain  la 

»n  equal  number  of  pages  of  any  volume  of  English  literature." 


American  §n$fisi  fJnWiratnm  &zm% 

530  ARCH  STREET,  PHILADELPHIA, 


NEW  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  BOOKS 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE 

flineiricqr)  S^pfef  ffyblictfion  Socieftj, 

530  Arch  Street,  Philadelphia. 


DEW  FOR  THE  DROOPING  FLOWER :  In  Nine  Letters  addras- 

ed  to  Miss  Sarah  Sannders  during  her  last  illness.    By  John 

Foster.    18mo.    98  pages.  .  .  .  18-20  cts. 

BIBLE  RHYMES  on  all  the  Books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments. 

By  Hannah  Moore.    18mo.    72  pages    .  .  1&-18  cts. 

WESTERN  SIDE;  or  Lights  and  Shadows  of  a  Western  Parish. 

By  a  Minister's  Wife.    18mo.    327  pages.    .  .  60  cts. 

Do.  Do.  fine  Edition.    12mo.    327  pages.    75  cts. 

MISSIONARY  CONVERTS  in  Heathen  Lands.     By  Uncle  Jose- 

phus.    18  mo.    118  pages.        .  .  ,  22  and  25  cts. 

THRILLING  FACTS  from  Missionary  Fields.  By  Uncle  Josephus. 

18  mo.    131  pages.     .....  22-25  cts. 

CURIOSITIES  OF  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.    By  Uncle  Josephus. 

18  mo.    117  pages 22-25  cts. 

MARY  BARTLETT  :  Or  the  Young  Home  Missionary.    By  Friend 

Jane.  18  mo.  60  pages.  ....  15  cts. 
A  LILY  GATHERED.    The  Conversion  of  James  Laing ;  who  died 

In  Scotland,  at  the  age  of  fourteen.  ByR.  M.M'Chetne.  18mo. 

57  pages.     .  .  .....  15  cts. 

PHILIP  GARLAND:  Or  Love  One  Another.   18mo.  129  pages. 

25cts. 
WINTER  VACATION:  Or  how  to  be  a  Gentleman.    18mo.   49 

pages.  ......  15  cents, 

STING  OF  THE  ADDER :  Or  the  History  of  the  Stanley  Family. 

By  Jennie  Dowltnq  De  Witt.    18mo.    132  pages.  28  cts. 

LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF  MENNO,  the  celebrated  Dutch  Reformer. 

With  an  accurate  Portrait.     By  J.  Newton  Brown.    18mo. 

67  pages.      ; 16-18  centa. 

ELLEN  MASON :  Or  Prejudice  Vanquished.    18  mo.    92  pages. 

20  cents. 
WONDERFUL  HISTORY  OF  A  PIECE  OF  WOOD.     An  Expo- 

sure  of  Papal  Idolatry.    18mo.    20  pages.  .  15  cents. 

COLMAN  AND  WHEELOCK :  Or  the  Early  Called  cf  the  Burman 

Mission.    18ino.    136  pages.  .  ?5  ccnU 


pirate  against  % 

AND  THE  BIBLE  AGAINST  ROME: 
Or,   Pharisaism,   Jewish    and  Papal. 

BY  WM.  S.  PLUMER,  D.  D. 
18mo.     129  pages.     PRICE  25  CENTS. 


From  the  Christian  Chronicle. 

"  This  little  volume  is  from  the  pen  of  a  most  ahle  and  accom- 
plished scholar.  Dr.  Plumer,  of  Baltimore,  has  but  few  equals  aa 
an  impressive  preacher,  or  a  vigorous  writer.  He  is  entirely  at 
home  with  the  nature,  history,  and  results  of  the  papal  religion, 
and  in  this  book  has  presented  the  subject  before  the  public  in  a 
masterly  manner.  It  will  do  good  in  the  family,  and  especially 
in  the  Sabbath  School  Library." 

From  the  Christian  Secretary. 

"  It  shows  in  a  clear  and  precise  manner,  what  Pharisaism  was 
among  the  Jews,  and  that  Pharisaism  among  the  Papists  goes 
beyond  it.  It  also  shows  the  hostility  of  popery  to  the  general 
circulation  of  the  Word  of  God — that  this  opposition  is  unscrip- 
tural  and  unreasonable,  and  is  condemned  by  the  voice  of 
antiquity.  It  concludes  with  an  address  to  Romish  priests,  to 
private  members  of  the  Romish  church,  and  to  Protestants." 
From  the  New  York  Baptist  Register. 

"The  writer  shows  clearly  that  Catholics  are  scarcely  more 
favorable  to  the  Douay  version  than  to  any  other,  and  that  their 
opposition  is  to  the  Bible  itself." 

From  the  Presbyterian  Banner. 

"This  little  volume  is  admirably  condensed,  and  filled  with 
solid  matter  in  the  author's  usual  effective  manner.  *  *  It  will 
repay  the  labor  of  several  perusals." 

From  the  Presbyterian, 
"  The  kind  of  book  which  should  be  placed  in  the  hands  of 
general  readers,  who  wish  to  ascertain  the  true  features  of| 
Popery. 

From  the  Episcopal  Recorder. 
K  A  succinct  and  able  compendium  of  the  Prcte«tant  view  on 
the  important  topic  its  title  indicates." 


fthjertcw  £9[)fisf  ^qbiicgfioi)  Society, 

630  ARC  II  STREET,  PHILADELPHIA. 


